Blog

A Code of Conduct for responsible fisheries in South African waters has been developed through a project commissioned by the RFA.

The RFA collaborated with independent consultants Capricorn Fisheries Monitoring (CapFish) on a project to develop a Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries in South Africa. This innovative Code of Conduct was developed to provide a guideline to steer the fishing industry toward responsible fishing practices which in turn will ensure the sustainable harvesting of marine resources. Based on the principles for a responsible fishery as espoused by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), it serves as a generic template for local fisheries by outlining the approach to various issues such as pollution, bycatch, discarding of waste, and overfishing that need to be considered in order to stimulate the effective implementation of an EAF in a local context.
This generic template developed by the RFA and CapFish will serve as the basis to enable other fishing sectors to voluntarily draft their fishery-specific Codes of Conduct. The Alliance will now seek to work closely with the broader fishing industry in order to promote the adoption of this self-regulatory mechanism by all. Additional objectives of the Code of Conduct are to:
• Encourage collaboration between crew, management and others with an interest in the management , conservation and utilisation of fishery resources;
• Ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations pertaining to the fishery; and
• Serve as an instrument of reference to fishers, present and future.
The RFA is hopeful that these industry specific Codes of Conduct will encourage the sustainable use of marine resources within local fisheries and facilitate a healthier, more robust fishing sector. The RFA will now seek to encourage all existing fishing associations to develop and adopt a fishery-specific Code of Conduct. The generic Code of Conduct template developed by the RFA can be found below: