NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 14
QUESTION 14 FOR WRITTEN REPLY: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, MR. V M MANZINI (DA-
MPUMALANGA) ASKED THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES:
What (a) strategies are in place to ensure the sustainable exploitation of
fish resources and (b) scientific methods are being used to calculate
fishing stock quotas?              CW77E
REPLY:
a) The Marine Living Resources Act requires that all fisheries resources
are exploited sustainably. The Branch uses a range of strategies to
achieve this. All exploited target fish stocks are assessed on an annual
basis and Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and/or Total Allowable Effort
(TAE) levels are recommended by the Chief Directorate Fisheries Research
and Development . These are considered by the Deputy Director-General:
Fisheries Management before a final TAC/TAE is determined. Also included
in this process is the development of Operational Management Procedures
(OMPs) for some major stocks and the rebuilding of stocks that may be
overexploited or threatened. The recommendations are based on
scientific, social and economic data on the fish stocks collected on an
ongoing basis and assessments are carried out by teams of scientists at
scientific working group (SWG) level.
b) Various internationally accepted scientific methods are used. They
include mathematical models based on catch and research data from
various sources or direct assessments from vessel surveys. For some
stocks, diving surveys are used to count and estimate fish or shellfish;
for others, research vessels are used to estimate abundance using two
main methods â areal expansion surveys for bottom-living species and
hydro-acoustic surveys to estimate surface-swimming fish. The methods
used and the research itself is subjected to regular peer review - an
annual international stock assessment workshop of experts is held to
review several aspects of the work conducted by the Branch.