Minister stalls, so black fleet can't fish
But politican blames court case for trawler graveyard
Bartolomeu Dias would sail straight past Mossel Bay if he discovered it today. Derelict fish-processing plants, tied-up trawlers and fishermen perched along the quay like hungry seagulls - the once bustling harbour is a fishing graveyard due largely to a legal stalemate over the government's fishing rights allocation process. The country's hake inshore trawling fleet has been grounded by yet another stand-off over fishing transformation, with dire consequences for the fishermen. The company hardest hit by the impasse is, ironically, 100% black-owned. It has appealed to Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana to rescue its workers from destitution. BMC Fishing said it and other rights holders who depended on the inshore fishery were being held to ransom by Zokwana who, they claim, has the power to allow fishing pending the outcome of a court case. BMC, which has operated for 15 years, has two trawlers and employs 24 crew and a similar number of shore staff. "They...
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