Fishermen say government authorities have sold ‘secret’ consignments of abalone worth an estimated R10m.
|||A group of perlemoen fishermen – who are dragging the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to court over the quota system – have claimed that the department “secretly” sold more than R10m worth of illegally poached perlemoen.
This was among the allegations presented in their court papers, which were submitted to the Western Cape High Court a week ago.
The group of 36 artisanal fishermen and entities, all from the Western Cape, are being led by Scott Russell, the spokesman for the South African Abalone Industry Association, in a court battle against the minister, the deputy director-general of the Fisheries Branch and 268 other fishing companies and fishermen.
They are seeking a court order to review and set aside the quota allocation for small-scale abalone fishermen for the 2011/12 fishing season.
In addition, they are seeking an urgent interdict to stop the dozens of people and companies fishing in their allocated zones at Robben Island, the Cape Peninsula and the West Coast.
In an affidavit, Russell claimed that the department “secretly sold some five tons of illegally harvested, confiscated dried abalone”, which had earned it R10m for one auction. In the 2007/08 financial year, the department had auctioned off poached perlemoen worth R80m and relied on such sales to fund operational costs.
“It is noted that the auctioning of all confiscated product is undertaken under a cloud of secrecy with no prior public notice. Further, current auctions do not take place under the scrutiny of a certified independent forensic audit firm,” Russell said in his affidavit.
He claims they (artisanal fishermen and entities) are losing out on thousands of rand as a result of the minister’s perlemoen fishing schedule for the 2011/12 season.
While perlemoen stocks were collapsing in certain zones as a result of poaching, Russell said the schedule rewarded the rights holders there for the “mismanagement” of their zones by allowing them to fish in other, more stable zones.
Russell said the minister had essentially introduced a “new, unofficial ‘policy’” instead of sticking to the official Abalone Policy. Promulgated in 2003, the policy allocates fishing rights for 10 years and is valid until June 30, 2013.
He said it enabled the minister to hold these fishermen accountable by reducing their individual quotas, which the minister had failed to do.
The department is yet to notify the court whether it intends opposing the application. Meanwhile, the urgent application for an interdict has been set down to be heard on January 17. - Cape Times
E-mail Leila: leila.samodien@inl.co.za