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THE Department of Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) has banned fishermen from communicating directly with the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism or any other officials involved in the allocation of long-term fishing rights.

Fishermen now have to direct all correspondence with the Department via a single official, who fishermen say is not very high in the pecking order of the Department. The Kalk Bay Boat Owners Association (KBBOA) says this is an indication of how little priority the Department is granting fishing rights. The announcement comes not long after the Association sent a letter to the Minister, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, pleading that he do something to prevent the Kalk Bay fishing community from being destroyed.

Most fishermen in the harbour have been denied traditional handline fishing rights and West Coast rock lobster quotas and appeals against the decisions have been delayed by MCM. According to KBBOA chairperson Aashiq Newman, traditional line fish applications closed in early October 2005. He says that seven months later, fishermen have not received forms from the Department to lodge their appeals. The closing date for appeals is 19 May.

According to a notice issued by MCM, correspondence between fishermen and the Department is being delayed by applicants sending correspondence to various officials in MCM, the Minister and even the President's office. "In terms of the general policy...the Department, the delegated authority and the Minister will not communicate with individual applicants on a private basis. Attempts to improperly influence the delegated or appellate authority constitutes an independent ground for refusing an application or appeal," the notice states. "Where is the Minister on this issue? He is noticeably silent," Newman says. "We need to establish the facts, but MCM is stonewalling through its silence and threatening blocking tactics. The Kalk Bay traditional linefishing fabric is already in tatters and if MCM gets away with this 'denial of rights' again, as it did with the medium term quotas, then our community is finished."

Newman fears that MCM's latest notice could be used to deny fishermen a fair appeal.

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