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.
As with “other issues” there just aren’t the sort of communication channels one requires to make people aware of the facts. And without facts and the information most people will simply bury their heads in the sand. Why was it necessary for the Government to close down the Abalone fishing industry? This must have been devastating for the families involved and it comes right back to the question you are asking. Who is responsible? What can we and what should we be doing?