No show by DAFF officials in Eastern Cape
Hopes to discuss critical challenges facing Eastern Cape (EC)fisher folk were dashed when DAFF postponed a meeting at the last minute.
A delegation of fishers from the Coastal Links Provincial Executive Committee and Masifundise representatives arrived at the venue to hear that the meeting had been postponed. There was no prior notification.
The crucial issues that required discussion were the huge delays in the issuing of subsistence permits, the arrest of fishers for alleged poaching and the interim relief system. The latter is not applied in the Eastern Cape.
The delegation included Mcebisi Kraai and Sithembiso Gwaza from Masifundise, Lulamile Ponono and Ntsindiso Nongcazo from the EC Coastal Links
Naseegh attends IPC in Brazil
A huge meeting of organisations active in small-scale sectors around the world is currently underway in Brazil.
Naseegh Jaffer, Director of Masifundise, is attending the gathering of the International Planning Committee (IPC), which takes place from 24 to 28 November. He was mandated by the World Forum of Fisher People (WFFP) to represent the organisation in this planning process. Masifundise co-chairs the WFFP.
The International Planning Committee (IPC) is a platform of progressive organisations active in small-scale food production across the world. This includes small-scale farmers, forestry workers, small-scale fishers and indigenous communities dependent on natural resources for their livelihood and food.
All these sectors sent delegates to the IPC general meeting (in Brazil) to develop strategic plans for the next two years and brainstorm methodologies for how these issues can be raised at various levels of United Nations bodies.
The West Africa Visit
Josh Cox of Masifundise and Neville Luyt of CLSA have had a very productive visit in West Africa. More than 200 copies of the Pan African Fishers Net, in both English and French were distributed to fishing communities and fisher organisations in the West Africa region.
The Pan African Newsletter, focusing on Ocean Grabbing in Africa, was produced by Masifundise earlier this year.
The two met with the Ministry of Fisheries in Sierra Leone and fisher men and women in two of the major fishing communities. All were keen to hear about Coastal Links South Africa (CLSA) and the way in which fishers in South Africa have organised and mobilised.
Neville and Josh too were able to gain some valuable insights on the work being done in fisher communities in West Africa. Josh said that, “a regional workshop of fisher organisations in Cape Verde was highly useful, not so much in terms of the formal programme, but in terms of the discussions we had more informally on the pan African programme and ocean grabbing”.
Today was the final leg of their journey, in Dakar, Senegal, where they attended the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) workshop on marine conservation.
Fishers Net out soon
The final edition of Fishers Net is at the printers and will be available for distribution next week. Copies will also uploaded on our website and Facebook sites.
You can expect to read about activities that MDT and CLSA has been embarking on in the past two months, a profile of a coastal community and hear what fishers in the four coastal links provinces have to say about the passing of the MLRA Amendment Bill.
Two videos are also in the pipeline as well as a Handbook on the small-scale fisheries (SSF) policy.
Masifundise’s social network platforms are steadily growing and attracting much interest.
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