Pretoria - The department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has temporarily suspended the harvesting of West Coast rock lobster under the sixth interim relief dispensation.
According to a statement by the department, the suspension will be effective from Friday, 16 March, adding that the decision was taken after careful consideration of both the social, ecological and legal implications.
He said the suspension, however, does not apply to other species such as traditional line fish, white mussel and red bait as listed in the exemption
Interim relief was agreed upon in May 2007, following an Equality Court settlement between the department and small-scale fishers.
According to the settlement, the department agreed to grant small-scale fishers access to marine resources until the Small-Scale Fishers Policy, currently in its final phases, is implemented.
The department said during the current dispensation, approximately 1 340 exemptions have been granted to bona fide fishermen, allowing each a share of the total allowable catch (TAC) determined for interim relief in the WCRL-sector.
This TAC has been set at 251 tons - 167kg per exemption holder.
