Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy, has issued her appeal decisions related to the Hake Deep-Sea Trawl Sector, in terms of the Fishing Rights Allocation Process 2020/2021 (FRAP 2021).
In a statement on Wednesday, the Minister explained that at the forefront of her consideration of the Hake Deep-Sea Trawl appeals was the need to transform the commercial sector, while maintaining the stability of the sector.
“In so doing, I was required to balance the need to admit new entrants into the sector with the need to achieve an equitable redistribution of the Total Allowable Catch. I was also mindful of the need to promote medium to smaller entities,” Creecy said.
The General Published Reasons for the Appeal Decisions in the Hake Deep-Sea Trawl Sector: 2021/2022 will be published on the department’s website.
Appellants will also be provided with the outcome of their individual appeal decisions in due course.
Rights holders are to access the FRAP Online Portal for their grant of right letters, which also will be uploaded shortly.
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has revised the timelines for the processing, administration and finalisation of the remaining appeals relating to the FRAP 2021/2022 process, such that the Department will endeavour to finalise the Hake Longline Appeals (280 appeals) by 27 October, the Sardine Appeals (169 appeals) by 25 November 2023 and the Anchovy Appeals (230 appeals) by 30 November 2023.
“The deferral of the timelines for finalisation of the remaining sectors is necessary to ensure that I arrive at the correct decision on all appeals. The deferral will not prejudice any of the appellants and right holders in the remaining sectors, because I will have finalised and issued my appeal decisions in these sectors prior to the commencement of the next fishing seasons in January 2024,” Creecy said.
The link to access the appeals decision can be found on: https://www.dffe.gov.za/sites/default/files/legislations/appeals/1oct2023gpr_hakedeepseetrawl.pdf.
