Fishermen's battle to acquire licences

MEMBERS of the Eastern Cape Black Fishermen's Association (ECBFA) say they are done with talking and handed over a memorandum and several criminal complaints to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries yesterday.

The association met department officials at the Zwide Customer Care Centre to discuss an ongoing battle to acquire fishing licences for small- scale fisheries together with several other complaints, which ECBFA chairman Xola Ngcangca said they had been fighting for since 1996.

Earlier this year, out of a total of 3490 applicants nationally, only 593 received fishing rights.

Ngcangca said it meant that basically all of their 2500 members – who fish to support their households and private businesses – were commercially fishing in the Bay illegally. - Tremaine van Aardt