Vanderkloof trial commercial seine and longline fishing approved

This was reported here http://www.fosaf.co.za/fishingReports.php?id=22. I'm not sure what action needs to be taken? I wouldn't be surprised if there are commercial interests using the 'it's for the underprivileged' meme to get their snouts into the trough of an untapped fishery. This is a capital intensive undertaking and as always when I hear something disturbing happening in the public commons I ask myself who's really benefitting? It's not the poor I can promise you - a few unemployed people will get some piddling wages, the real money will be made elsewhere. Not too dissimilar to the False Bay trekking - a few days wages for guys in the boat and on the beach and the license holder takes most of the benefit (or so I am told).

Very sad, the shortsightedness is astonishing but not surprising.

More should have signed the petition before it was too late...? It's a crime that this is being allowed!

I was reading about "recovering" fisheries in Auz recently, the local governments have used recreational license fees in some areas to buy out the licenses from the net fisherman and low and behold recreational fish stocks are rebounding. Baitfish stocks are still hammered in those systems as the netters just target the spawning mullet and whiting etc. before they enter the protected areas but at least the non-target, recreational fish are recovering within the previously netted areas. Commercial netting is simply unsustainable, no matter what anyone says, no names mentioned haha...

I wish we could have some more proactive policies over this side of the sea..