Wednesday 23 July 2014
Linefish status under discussion
UCT researcher Serge Raemakers will present findings from his research titled “Mind the Gap – Governance Dilemas in the Western Cape Traditional Line Fisher “, to a roundtable meeting later this week.
Raemakers is from the Environmental Evaluation Unit, a long-time partner of Masifundise and Coastal Links South Africa.
The meeting takes place on 7 August and will be attended by about 40 fishers, researchers, members of civil society and representatives of government.
The meeting will discuss the controversial Linefish Fishing Allocation Process of 2013 and its impact on the implementation of the small-scale fisheries policy.
Fishers from Arniston, Struuisbaai, Ocean View, Hout Bay and Langebaan took part in the research conducted by Serge and his colleagues.
Popular movements in spotlight
The impact of the work of popular movements on communities will come under the spotlight at an SSNC international gathering this month.
Read More… http://wp.me/p29R58-i6
The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) has invited 12 of their partner organisations from Africa, Asia, Europe and America to the meeting, which will take place at Goedgedacht, outside Cape Town, from 15 to 18 September 2014.
The meeting will look how popular movements contribute to nature conservation and the improvement of lives, through their community mobilisation programmes.
Two representatives from each organisation will engage around the theme, “Power of mobilisations – Popular Movement in Practice”.
The SSNC partner meeting will focus on its internal and external work related to mobilisation.
The intention is to have a three day programme that will build on participatory methods where sharing of experiences will be given high priority. All participants in the meeting are expected to share their inputs, so that all attendees will leave the meeting having increased knowledge on mobilisation and participation methods.
Masifundise and CLSA will be represented by Hahn and Mr Mary Hull.
The Environmental Monitoring Group is assisting SSNC with organising the meeting.
http://www.naturskyddsforeningen.se/in-english/about-us
http://www.emg.org.za/
Langebaan Courtcase delayed
Fishers from the community of Langebaan who want access to Zone B in the Langebaan lagoon met yesterday 5 August with LRC lawyer Wilmien Wickham.
Read More … : http://wp.me/p29R58-i8
The meeting was a feedback session regarding the proceedings of the case and a platform to discuss a way forward.
The fishers have been in an unending battle with South Africa National Parks (SANParks) and the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) since access to zone B was denied. With the hope that they will gain access to this zone, the fisher’s yesterday signed an affidavit requesting the court to proceed with the court-case.
In the affidavit, the fisher’s say that the delays in the court case and in the implementation of the small-scale fisheries policy (SSFP) have made life difficult for the Langebaan fishing community.
They continue to say that members become disheartened and frustrated and that this has recently been exploited by political parties coming to have meetings in Langebaan, causing fishers to turn against each other.
WFFP Annual General Assembly Update
The first weekly news update for the World Forum of Fisher People’s General Assembly was published last week Friday.
The news update, will be published every Friday and will give the reader information about the General assembly, including information about participating countries/delegates and update on the current status of the Assembly.
A website for WFFP is also underway and is expected to be launched later in August. The website will provide knowledge on the work of WFFP and will also have regular blogging posts about the General Assembly, the work of partner organisations and working continental forums.
Read more: https://www.masifundise.org/?p=1083