Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of South Africa, Senzeni Zokwana has revealed that he proposed to his Maldivian counterpart to coordinate surveillance programmes to detect illegal fishing vessels in the Indian Ocean.
Speaking on Talk Maldives TV programme, aired on PSM News, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of South Africa noted that he has been in conversation with the Maldivian Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture, Dr. Mohamed Shainee regarding the coordination of surveillance systems in the Indian Ocean. Minister Zokwana said that the intended system could be set up in Mozambique and noted that such a system would allow countries to monitor vessels which illegally enter their waters.
"I was talking with the Maldivian Minister on coordinating surveillance system to detect if there is any illegal fishing vessel. South Africa agrees Mozambique should be the center in the Indian Ocean that should be monitored, given their ability to have monitoring centre. South Africa has agreed to work with them. And we believe it can be expanded. No vessel should enter our waters without permit of a particular country," the South African Minister said on the programme.
The Minister further spoke about the call of action which was signed during the High Level Meeting on Allocation of Fishing Opportunities in Indian Ocean held in Bandos Island Resort from August 14 to 17. Maldives, South Africa, Seychelles and Pakistan signed the call of action on fast tracking implementation of allocation of fishing opportunities in Indian Ocean. Minister Zokwana said that the key of this commitment is to ensure the processes that benefit the coastal states, and the rights of fishermen exploiting fish stock as a source of food.
"Our local fisherman should not struggle to access fish just because it is fished by other countries. But the key to all this is the fact that if a fish species caught in South Africa it should be registered as being caught in South Africa. So that future allocations can reflect that. Those are the things we are saying is that people can come and tell us about the national law, but the thing is there should not be any laws which deprives the local people of their right to exploit the resources,” Minister Zokwana said.
Minister Zokwana noted that the call of action signed by the four countries aims to galvanise and work with communities as well through the respective governments. The South African Minister cited that the countries further agree cooperation with non-governmental organizations to enable them to have a more vocal presence, thus enabling the positive change to ocean security, fish stock and ensuring beneficial allocation for countries. He said South Africa is ready to work with the Maldives in the proposed effort to set the allocations.
The call of action is targeted to implement a proposal submitted by Maldives to the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission held in May 2017. The call of action aims to fast track the matters proposed by Maldives at the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC).
The proposal by Maldives aims on ensuring and protecting the sovereign rights of IOTC coastal States, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, for the purposes of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the living resources, including highly migratory species, within a zone of up to 200 nautical miles under its jurisdiction.