Abalone quota holders reject new draft policy

COMMERCIAL abalone quota holders have hit out at the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ proposed new draft policies for long-term quota allocations and say they have no option but to “reject the entire process”.

Abalone SA, which represents those who hold commercial rights to fish for wild abalone, said yesterday the department had failed to consult stakeholders properly before drafting the new policy.

The association described the draft policy as “a superficial copy and paste job” with the same wording for each fishing sector, although there were big differences between the sectors. “It is completely unacceptable that it now seeks to pass off such ill-considered policy on economically vulnerable citizens and fishing communities whose longterm livelihoods and futures depend thereon,” the association said.

It said the policy had not been aligned with the objectives of the National Development Plan, nor were there any provisions for addressing “key issues” in the abalone sector such as “rampant poaching, the economic viability of rights and improved management of the resource”.

The 30-day period for written comment from the public would not remedy the short-comings of the policy, it said, particularly as many were small-scale fishing people who had limited literacy.

The public meetings around the coast could not be called real consultation as each meeting was just two hours and sought to address all 11 sectors in one meeting. There were 60 or more people at each meeting and if they were each to speak, they would get less than two minutes. Given that the department would take up at least one hour, this would more likely be one minute a person, talking about a range of fishing sectors.

“Putting all 11 sectors in the same meeting is sure to create chaos and confusion.” Most meetings were scheduled to take place after the deadline for public comment. This made the meetings irrelevant.

The department last allocated long-term abalone fishing rights in 2003, which are set to expire. The draft policy deals with the process of making new long-term allocations in abalone and other fishing sectors, including rock lobster, hake inshore trawl, Patagonian toothfish and large pelagic fish.

The department’s renewed rights allocation for commercial linefish in January 2013 caused an uproar among those who lost their rights and ended in legal action. An investigation found the process had been flawed.

Department spokeswoman Carol Moses was asked to comment but had not replied by yesterday.