CAPE TOWN, March (ANA) - The agriculture, forestry, and fisheries department (Daff) has assured South Africans that every possible measure will be taken to curb illegal fishing.
In a statement issued at the weekend after the Interpol Fisheries Crime Working Group meeting held in Cape Town from March 14 – 16 under the chairmanship of Norway, the department said South Africa was a signatory to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) protocol on fisheries.
"As a result, Daff will play a significant role in the establishment of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance Co-ordination Centre (MCSCC) soon be be established in Mozambique.
"The objective of the SADC MCSCC will be to enhance and co-ordinate compliance and enforcement efforts in the SADC region in order to combat illegal fishing," the department said.
Fighting illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing was a priority for Daff. Fisheries crime was not just a national problem, but a global problem, undermining governments’ poverty eradication efforts. The fact that fisheries crime was largely transnational in nature created the need for organised global communities to work together to address illegal fishing.
South Africa was a member of Interpol and consequently an active member of the Interpol Fisheries Crime Working Group, whose fundamental objective was to enhance collaborative efforts to combat fisheries crime, which included poaching of abalone and West Coast rock lobster.
"Daff appreciates the complexity of Illegal fishing and would like to assure South African communities that every possible measure will be taken in order to curb illegal fishing," the department said.
- African News Agency (ANA)
