Sustainable Livelihoods and Marine Resources: How Does South Africa’s Policy for the Small-Scale Fisheries Sector Consider Current Challenges on the Ground?

This research paper evaluates the 2012 Policy for the Small Scale Fisheries Sector in South Africa, examining its ability to address the challenges of poverty alleviation and marine resource sustainability. Through a case study of the coastal community of Hamburg in the Eastern Cape, the author analyzes the failures of previous co-management attempts and the ongoing struggle of small-scale fishers to obtain commercial fishing rights.

• The 2012 Policy for the Small Scale Fisheries Sector in South Africa formally recognizes small-scale fishers as participants in commercial activity, addressing a long-standing lack of formal recognition for those who sell the majority of their catch.
• Post-Apartheid efforts to transform the fisheries sector through the Marine Living Resource Act (MLRA) of 1998 were largely counterproductive; permits were often awarded to new entrants with better credit or business skills rather than the intended historically disadvantaged black fishers.
• A pilot co-management project in Hamburg (2002–2004) failed to reduce illegal abalone harvesting because permit holders lacked the power to enforce laws against outside poachers and questioned the legitimacy of the permit allocation.
• Abalone poaching remains a severe economic and ecological issue in South Africa, with the illegal trade of abalone and crayfish costing the economy nearly $80 million annually.
• The 2012 policy integrates the need for local monitors in every small-scale fishing community, though it remains unclear if these monitors will have the legal authority to arrest or issue fines to deter poaching.
• The 2012 policy is criticized for being biased toward the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces, as decision-makers are concentrated there and field workers from other provinces, such as the Eastern Cape, are excluded from the decision-making level.
• There is a lack of coordination between the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), leading to confusion and community division regarding the formation of legal entities and co-operatives.

APA

Stern, M. (2013). Sustainable Livelihoods and Marine Resources: How Does South Africa’s Policy for the Small-Scale Fisheries Sector Consider Current Challenges on the Ground? South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Occasional-Paper-166.pdf

Chicago

Stern, Michelle. Sustainable Livelihoods and Marine Resources: How Does South Africa’s Policy for the Small-Scale Fisheries Sector Consider Current Challenges on the Ground? South African Institute of International Affairs, 2013. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Occasional-Paper-166.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stern |first1=Michelle |title=Sustainable Livelihoods and Marine Resources: How Does South Africa’s Policy for the Small-Scale Fisheries Sector Consider Current Challenges on the Ground? |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=November 2013 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Occasional-Paper-166.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stern2013sustainable, author = {Stern, Michelle}, title = {{Sustainable Livelihoods and Marine Resources: How Does South Africa’s Policy for the Small-Scale Fisheries Sector Consider Current Challenges on the Ground?}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2013}, month = nov, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Occasional-Paper-166.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }