Topic: Protecting International Fisheries
Country: South Africa
Delegate Name: Liyah Bard
School: Grand Blanc High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All South Africa position papers GLIMUN 2017 committees
History and what has been done about it in the past: South Africa has three main sectors for the fishing industry. Though there have been some of the regulations made there are still issues as people always bypass these. A system of individual company quotas was introduced in 1979 and a method of allocating them was based on, among other things, level of investment, historical and current performance and trawling capacity. A total of six quotas were allocated to deep-sea trawling companies, but the two largest companies were together allocated 85% of the TAC (Total Allowed Caught). In 1988, the Sea Fishery Act was passed, establishing a Quota Board with the task of awarding annual quotas across all commercial fisheries. Over the nine years of its existence, the Quota Board redistributed 15% of the hake TAC. We are only given one environment to live in and take care of. If we do not take our part and contribute to the health of it our future generations could easily be in danger and have to fix what we have left broken.
The South African fisheries sector plays a small part in the economy of the country. With regard to GDP, it contributes less than 1%. However, regionally fisheries play a major role in the economy. The Western Cape is the center of the industrial fisheries and in areas such as Saldanha Bay and St Helena Bay. South Africa's fisheries policy is founded on the belief that all natural marine living resources, as well as the environment in which they exist and in which mariculture activities may occur, are a national asset and the heritage of all its people, and should be managed and developed for the benefit of present and future generations in the country as a whole. South Africa has implemented many regulations to try and fix this issue. The South African fishing industry is regulated by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. The commercial and recreational fishing industry is valued approx. ZAR 4 to 5 billion annually. All marine fisheries require a right or permit and fall within one of the three main sectors, namely small-scale/subsistence, industrial and recreational.
It is clear that action needs to be taken to protect the industry from overfishing. South Africa advocates for strict overwatch on the amount of fish being caught during spawning season which is September through November. Also, put quotas on how many fish can be caught by a single person in a season. To ensure this, we could possibly put regulations on the number of times an individual can go to a certain area. A reason this should even be considered is that the spawning season is one of the most important seasons as it is an attempt to repopulate the body of water with the amount or even more than the amount lost from the previous season. This is precious time as it is only a quarter of the whole year. If this precious time is lost, it could cause a domino effect, especially in the food chain. South America's primary concern is to thrive and keep a healthy ecosystem
