Black Traditional Fishers and Black Economic Empowerment Swem die Net mis Falling through the Net

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Black Traditional Fishers and
Black Economic Empowerment Swem die Net mis
Falling through the Net

• Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on
  Environmental Affairs by
• Masifundise and Coastal Links
• May 8th 2007

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• 1. Introduction to Masifundise and Coastal
  Links
• Masifundise - an independent Trust, in
  existence for 26 years
• Coastal Links - Network of fisher and
  coastal community based
• organisations. Both organisations work on
  the West and South Coasts and Masifundise has
  conducted fieldwork in the Eastern Cape and
  established links with fisher organisations in
  Kwa-Zulu Natal
• Our position on BEE and the Fishing Industry
• The BEE Act 53 of 2003 is a powerful and
  critical legal mechanism for the transformation
  of economic inequities in South Africa. The
  current Fishing Policies do not provide the means
  whereby the BEE Act can articulate with the
  fishing policies and bring about economic
  empowerment for the most marginalised black,
  traditional fishers

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• 2. Background The apartheid legacy and the
  need for transformation and BEE in the fishing
  industry
• 1.1 The fishing industry has
  historically been a white dominated,
• highly capital intensive industry
• 1.2 The poor, black, traditional sector
  dependent on marine
• resources for their livelihoods
  ranges from subsistence to
• small scale commercial fishers
• 1.3 The policy process in Marine and
  Coastal Management over
• the last 10 years has focused on
  promoting black
• empowerment in the formal,
  industrialized fishing
• sector and maintaining
  international competitiveness at the
• neglect of the traditional small
  scale sector
• 1.4 The Marine Living Resources Act
  (1998) excluded artisanal
• fishers
• 1.5 The Subsistence Fisheries Task
  Group, which was convened
• after the MLRA was introduced,
  identified the need to
• accommodate these fishers.

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• 1.5 The Subsistence Fisheries Task Group, which
  was convened after the MLRA was introduced,
  identified the need to accommodate these fishers.
• 1.6 Subsistence Fisheries Task Group (SFTG) found
  that there were 147 fishing communities country
  wide comprising 29 200 individual fishers living
  in 28 300 households of which 53 were food
  insecure. A considerable number were considered
  ultra-poor

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• 3. Black, traditional fishers exclusion from
  transformation in the Fishing Industry
• 3.1 There is no Charter for the Fishing Industry
  identifying the transformation intentions of the
  Industry and locating traditional fishers as a
  key target group
• 3.2 South Africa has chosen a one size fits
  all approach to fishing policy that has favoured
  the commercial fishery.
• Small scale traditional fishers have had
  to compete with the large commercial interests in
  both the Medium and Long Term Allocations without
  any support and inputs in terms of capacity
  building, training in marketing etc and even
  where they did get rights, they are totally
  dependent on the larger companies for processing
  and marketing their produce. Much of the value
  gets added at this stage and hence this value is
  lost to traditional fishers

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• The use of the individual quota system also
  runs contrary to the BEE Act which aims to
  facilitate
• the extent to which communities, worker
  cooperatives and other collective enterprises
  own and manage existing and new enterprises

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• 3.3 The General Fishing Rights Allocation
  Policy uses an inappropriate policy mechanism
  that does not facilitate redistribution. As with
  the Medium Term Rights Allocation process, the
  Dept. has used the quota system as the policy
  mechanism for allocating rights. The Individual
  Quota system is not appropriate for the near
  shore, small scale sector as it is contrary to
  traditional, collective ways of fishing and
  precludes allocation to legal entities such as
  co-operatives etc.
• In addition, it does not support the
  multi-species livelihood approach and it has
  proved socially divisive, pitting one fisher
  against another and households against each
  other. It is internationally recognized that
  there are more appropriate and equitable ways of
  enabling access to the Total Allowable Catch,
  such as using effort controls. These have been
  shown to be more economically, socially and
  environmentally sustainable for the near shore,
  small scale sector.
• 3.4 The use of the individual quota system
  also runs contrary to the BEE Act which aims to
  facilitate the extent to which communities,
  worker cooperatives and other collective
  enterprises own and manage existing and new
  enterprises

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• 3.5 The BBBEE Act 53 of 2003 aims to
  increase the number of
• black people that manage, own and control
  enterprises and
• productive assets.
• The fishing policies of the past 9 years have
  systematically eroded
• traditional fishers access to marine
  resources. For example, in the Western Cape, in
  2000 the Department allocated 1652 crayfish
  subsistence permits. These fishers were
  personally verified by an official from the Dept
  in door to door interviews. In the medium term
  511 crayfish rights were allocated, but many of
  these individuals shared their rights with up to
  five fishers. In 2006 the Minister allocated
  only 813 crayfish rights.
• Not only the quantity but also the quality of
  the rights has impacted on traditional fishers
  Fishers are now limited in most instances to one
  species whereas previously harvested a basket of
  species, what traditional fishers call mandjie
  regte.

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• 3.6 The limitation on access rights for bone
  fide, traditional fishers runs contrary to the
  BEE Act which aims to empower rural and local
  communities by enabling access to economic
  activities, land, infrastructure, ownership and
  skills (BEE ACT 53 of 2003).
• Some communities have experienced
  considerable obstacles in trying to get support
  for community driven initiatives e.g Doringbaai.
  In this town the fishing company Oceana has
  closed operations in order to move southwards and
  local traditional fishers
• have developed a sound proposal to take over
  the factory but without success
• 3.7 Traditional fishers are vulnerable to fraud
  and corruption through black empowerment
  fronts. Masifundise has been asked to
  investigate a number of companies in Elandsbaai,
  Ebenhaeser and Khayalitsha where workers are so
  called shareholders but know nothing about the
  companies or Trusts in which they have shares.
  This now precludes them from benefiting from
  measures such as the Interim Relief recently
  announced by the Minister and also stopped them
  from being able to apply for long term rights in
  Cluster C.

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• 4. Impact of the exclusion of traditional fishers
• 4.1 Traditional fishing communities are facing
  high levels of poverty and unemployment. Whilst
  precise figures are difficult to obtain, a study
  conducted in 2005 by the University of Cape Town,
  drawing on existing data indicated that 15 and
  11 of household members on the BCLME west and
  south coasts (respectively) had regular
  employment and 16 and 23 (respectively) were
  unemployed. This research suggested that
  employment figures amongst fisher households are
  on the lower spectrum and unemployment is on the
  higher spectrum of the overall ranges found in
  these coastal settlements (Sowman et al, 2005).
  As noted earlier, in the SFTG study a significant
  number of the fishers were considered
  ultra-poor.
• 4.2 Many fishers had to borrow funds to cover
  their long term applications and, because they
  were unsuccessful, have as a result gone into
  debt to unscrupulous marketers and local
  companies.

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• 5. Recommendations
• 5.1 Review the current policy
• Government should conduct an urgent review
  of the MLRA and the Long Term General Policy to
  ensure that its implementation is compliant with
  BBEE requirements with the particular intention
  to promote and protect the needs of the small
  scale traditional fishing sector.
• 5.2 Exclusive Fishing Turf
• Government consider taking measures to
  allocate the near shore fishing zone (of between
  five to ten nautical sea mile) as an exclusive
  fishing turf for the traditional and small scale
  fishing sector so that their economic viability
  is secured. Importantly do not allow full
  commercial or industrial fishing activity in this
  zone.

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• 5.3 Basket Rights
• Allow traditional fishers to conduct their
  fishing activity in such a manner so that they
  can harvest a variety of different marine specie
  (basket rights) in stead of being limited to
  individual specie so that they can ply their
  trade in a sustainable manner through out the
  year. Put in place control mechanisms to ensure
  that stock is not over exploited.
• 5.4 Co-Management
• Develop explicit and participatory
  co-management procedures and mechanisms to ensure
  that the socio economic rights of the traditional
  sector is protected and further developed.
• 5.5 New working style and ethic
• Review and revised the internal structures
  and working style of MCM so that it becomes an
  organisation that is more suited to address,
  administer and facilitate BBEE in the fishing
  sector efficiently and form a socio-economic and
  humanitarian perspective. In particular
  restructure the relationship with MCM and DTI so
  that unscrupulous practices can be avoided.