Little hope of aquaculture bill seeing the light soon

The Aquaculture Development

Bill is keeping the aquaculture industry in limbo. This emerged during a recent panel discussion.

Asanda Njobeni, director of sustainable aquaculture management at the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment said that the National Aquaculture Strategic Framework and National Aquaculture Policy Framework were developed and approved in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

The need for the Aquaculture Development Bill evolved from there to create dedicated legislation that encompassed both marine and freshwater aquaculture.

However, to date the bill has not yet been tabled. Njobeni blames this on the reconfiguration of the national department almost every 10 years over the past 30 years in combination with the fact that the bill was temporarily withdrawn in 2020 in response to requests by a fraction of the industry, after which it underwent further consultation.

For instance, aquaculture and aquaponics farmers see the bill as too restrictive and over-regulated, while crocodile farmers say they should be excluded because they produce hides, not meat. Some also feel it is unfair that the industry should be subjected to rule and legislation, which is more stringent than what is applied in the livestock industries. There was also a dispute over the department’s authority to impose licensing to regulate the industry, which was subsequently enforced by the court.

Njobeni said once implemented, the bill should improve ease of doing business and the protection of investment by developing certification standards acceptable at an international level and allow South Africa to compete in the international market.

It will harmonise all regulatory aspects of the freshwater subsector.

Njobeni explained that permits were issued by different spheres of government for varying periods, which complicated the regulatory environment, while each province had different sets of criteria and imposed different conditions on similar aquaculture facilities. The bill also aims to protect the industry against malpractice by fellow producers.

Njobeni said that the movement of aquatic organisms will be regulated to ensure traceability and to minimise the spreading of aquatic diseases.

Other objectives include the development of food safety programmes specific to aquaculture products in line with local and international standards and steps aimed at protecting the environment.

Njobeni said that the bill was gazetted on 17 November 2023 for public comments and will be advertised in a national newspaper.

The public will have 60 days to comment on the bill after it first appears in the newspaper.

Stakeholders have raised their concerns, mostly via verbal representation, at the roadshows and public consultative sessions held before the bill was gazetted, but few of them were formalised in writing.

Njobeni has urged the industry to submit written comments, as the department can only make informed findings once the written comments have been received. –

DELAYED PIECE OF LEGISLATION IS KEEPING THE SECTOR IN LIMBO