A group of 12 fishing companies has initiated legal action against Barbara Creecy, South Africa's Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, contesting the outcome of the commercial fishing rights appeals process concluded at the close of 2023.

These companies, each pursuing separate cases, are challenging the denial of 15-year commercial fishing rights, alleging that the decisions were unlawful and that their applications were incorrectly evaluated.

The Fishing Rights Allocation Process (FRAP) 2021 reached its conclusion on February 28, 2022, with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment receiving a total of 2,473 applications. Among these, 1,213 appeals were lodged, but the companies involved were unsuccessful.

The appeals process concluded in December 2023, resulting in a total of 845 fishing rights being granted.

Criticism over the fishing rights allocation has been brewing among fishers for some time. Pressure from local Cape fishing communities forced the department to reevaluate their allocation process in 2022.

Legal representatives Dewald Smit and Shaheen Moolla are acting on behalf of around 10 of the applicants, leading separate cases against the minister. These applicants are contesting the minister's refusal of their rights across various sectors, including tuna and hake long-line fishing. Many of them are former rights holders.

One notable applicant, Greenfish Traders, a seafood exporter to Europe and the US, alleges that the minister mishandled its appeal and inaccurately assessed the company's score. The company's court documents raise concerns about the allocation of permits to Paper Quota Holders, who lack the necessary infrastructure and expertise in tuna pole fishing, yet are successfully obtaining permits and subsequently selling them to companies like Greenfish.

Another applicant, Mossel Bay Indigenous Fishermen, pursuing hake long-line rights, criticizes the prolonged delay in the minister's decision-making process, leaving the company in limbo for over a year.

Prairie Pride Trading, whose application for hake long-line rights was rejected, highlights anomalies in the appeal decisions, noting that all decisions were dated the same day, suggesting an implausible scenario where the minister reviewed and decided on 280 appeals in a single day.

In response to these legal challenges, department spokesperson Peter Mbelengwa asserts that the FRAP Appeal process was conducted fairly and transparently, yielding the correct outcomes. He notes that the department has received positive feedback on the appeal process and emphasizes that the legal actions represent a mere fraction of the total applications received.

The department intends to vigorously defend its decisions during the appeals process, with several cases scheduled for hearing in the Western Cape High Court in May.

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