In a recent decision, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled in favour of a group of recreational fishers (the Border Deep Sea Angling Association) and against the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries that had placed a moratorium on catching red steenbras (Petrus rupestris) in 2012. Although the scientific data suggests that the existing stock of red steenbras is less than 5% of its historical population, the court concluded that the department had not substantially justified the moratorium. Red steenbras is typical of a number of South Africa’s endemic linefish species that are severely over-exploited. Linefish species are a mixed bag of marine fish that are commonly caught by rod and reel. These species range from near-shore species easily caught by shore anglers (like dusky kob) to fish nomads like snoek and yellowtail that roam the coastal oceans freely. The groups of fishers that target these linefish are equally diverse. Of the three recognised sectors of fishers that target linefish stocks, the recreational sector is the least understood and the most rapidly growing. Recreational fishers are those who fish for sport. As such, they are not constrained by the economics that may prevent overfishing in the commercial linefish...
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