Just a little something I need to get off my chest.
A question I get asked often at Robberg Seafood Safari Knysna is “Who is enforcing the Commercial Fishing laws / regulations / license conditions?”. The answer is very difficult to answer because Marine and Coastal Management and the Department Environmental Affairs and Tourism, who play a large role in regulating the industry, are just not doing enough. Thus my question is “Where is the Navy?”. Surely our greatest threat from the Sea currently is the Over Exploitation of the Marine Resource.
The best equipped and most suitably trained body, in my view, to actually monitor and physically enforce laws at sea are the Navy. I think that a far larger role should be played by the Navy in protecting our Marine Resource and that this should be singled out as one of their priorities.
I recently spoke to various Navy personal during the Knysna Oyster Festival about this matter and generally the feeling was that involvement in enforcing Commercial Fishing Laws should be increased.
Any Comments? I would love to hear the general feeling on this matter.