Registered users and applicants applying for commercial fishing rights through the Fishing Rights Allocation Process (Frap) have another 10 days left to resubmit their applications or to update their current applications with required outstanding information or supporting documents online.
With the original deadline for the online application process set for Tuesday 7 December last year, the system has since re-opened on Tuesday 28 December with the new cut-off date set for midnight Friday 28 January this year.
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) has stated that the re-opening of the system was due to challenges experienced with the new Frap Online Application System and potential applicants encountering various technical issues between Monday 22 November and Tuesday 7 December last year.
DFFE has attributed the need to re-open the system to users not fully understanding the requirements of the new system, which is a shift away from the manual physical applications done in previous years.
“All registered users and current applicants must ensure that their applications comply with all the exclusionary criteria, including, but not limited to, ensuring compliance with the information and criteria that was either defective or incomplete,” read a media statement released end of last year.
The reopening of the system, however, does not apply to new applicants; only to those who registered on the electronic system within the window of Monday 1 November to Sunday 21 November last year.
Faez Poggenpoel, a fifth-generation fisher from Kalkbay and an executive member of Fishers United representing small-scale fishing communities, says a lot of people missed out on the opportunity to register for Frap.
“Whether it was because it wasn’t covered enough in the media, or because they didn’t know the registration process was underway,” he says.
For those who did manage to register to resubmit, Poggenpoel says they must make sure not to waste this golden opportunity.
He cautions that just because people submitted their applications by 7 December they shouldn’t assume all is in order.
His advice to applicants is to ensure that DFFE has received their online applications and that those who didn’t apply for certain species because they ran out of time, to apply for all of the species they did register for.
“These are 15-year rights. It can really change the lives of your family, from one generation to the next,” he says.
The Frap 2020/’21 process marks the first inclusion of socio-economic impact assessments in an allocation process since South Africa originally allocated long-term fishing rights to 22 commercial sectors in 2005.
Commercial rights expired on 31 December 2020 in four sectors allocated in 2005 for 15 years and those allocated in 2013 for a seven-year period.
The twelve sectors due for allocation in terms of section 18(6) of the Marine Living Resources Act (MLRA) in 2021 include KZN prawn trawl, Demersal shark, tuna-pole line, hake handline, traditional linefish, white mussels, oysters, squid, small pelagics (pilchard and anchovy), hake deepsea trawl, hake longline and South Coast rock lobster.
In September last year, DFFE released the timelines for Frap, indicating it would allocate fishing rights for these 12 sectors by the end of December 2021. DFFE has now said decisions on applications will be announced by Monday 28 February.
In the meantime – for those fishing seasons which commence during January and February – an exemption has been granted to all existing exemption holders to continue fishing pending the finalisation of Frap.
Poggenpoel explains that the application process to these commercial rights were open to all South African citizens because fish, like mining, is considered a national resource. This includes commercial traditional linefishers and coastal community small-scale fishers.
He says once you are registered on the online application system, and have paid the fees for these species, then you have the right to apply for these sectors. However, he says points are given to those who have historical involvement in the fishing industry, who have active involvement in certain sectors or are current right holders in certain sectors.
“For example, if you are applying for hake longline, if will be great if you have active involvement in that sector. That would mean you are a category A applicant. You are actively in the sector and your rights have come to an end.
“Category B applicants are right holders who are in other sectors, so let’s say they have lobster quota but they are applying for hake longline now.
“And category C is new entrants; you don’t have any rights in any sector nor the sector that you are applying in.”
Every sector has specific criteria.
“To apply for offshore commercial, you need to be a registered company,” he says.
- Access the online electronic system at https://www.FRAP2021.co.za.
