KZN Line Fisheries. Ezemvelo Exit Leaves Coast Vulnerable

KwaZulu Natal’s line-fisheries management is allegedly in a state of disarray a year after the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) ended its contract with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. Ezemvelo have been monitoring and undertaking compliance on the KZN coastline on behalf of the department for decades.

The contract termination, which took place without explanation on 1 August 2016, brought fisheries monitoring along the KZN coastline to a halt. It also ended 32 years of the National Marine Linefish System (NMLS) monitoring.

It has also resulted in an under patrolling of fishing off the local coastline and a seemingly lawless free-for-all as DAFF without sufficient capacity struggles to monitor the coastline.