Pretoria - The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has approved the Small-Scale Fishing Regulations.
The regulations will be published once the President has promulgated the Amended Marine Living Resources Act.
More than 270 communities have registered their Expressions of Interest (EOI) with the department, representing an estimated 20 000 fishers in South Africa.
“Registering an EOI is necessary to inform the department that the community contains small-scale fishers and that they want to be part of the process,” the department said in a statement.
The department is in the process of confirming registration of EOIs with the relevant community members via SMS and other communication platforms. It is forwarding other useful information related to the small-scale fisher about the pending verification process.
The department said any person who wants to be verified as a small-scale fisher must ensure that they are in possession of a valid identity document. – SAnews.gov.za
