Trout industry stakeholder meeting in Belfast: permits required for all trout stocking.

A meeting for stakeholders in the trout industry was held on 10^th December 2008 in Belfast and organised by the Federation of SA Flyfishers (FOSAF). Peter Mills of FOSAF opened the meeting by stating that the objective of the meeting was to consult with stakeholders regarding issues arising from the draft regulations in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act of 2004. He said that the draft regulations in their present form were unworkable and FOSAF wished to assist the industry in having them amended so they were acceptable to both the industry and the authorities.

Mr Francois Roux of Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Board said that trout breeders, lodges, clubs and landowners had little to worry about if they had followed the correct procedures in the past and had obtained permits for stocking trout. This applied to all permit holders whether they were within or outside what was called the proclaimed flyfishing zone in terms of the provincial conservation Act. Mr Roux stated that Mpumalanga was fortunate that the provincial legislation already recognised such a flyfishing or trout zone and in fact for permit holders it should be ‘business as usual’.

After some discussion it appeared that a number of persons did not hold permits for stocking trout and Mr Roux emphasised that it was their responsibility to rectify the situation. This should be done through the proposed forum.

With regard to stocking new waters Mr Roux said that even if these were outside the trout zone this might not be an expensive process even though an Environmental Impact Assessment would be required. He cited an example of a lodge in the Carolina area where only a simple scoping report was needed.

The meeting decided that a forum be set up as quickly as possible to represent the Mpumalanga trout industry and review the existing proclaimed trout zone and other related issues. FOSAF indicated that they would be prepared to assist in convening such a meeting, but stated that they hoped it would be before 20/01/2009 as the authorities wished to finalise this matter for the whole country on 22/01/2009 in Pietermaritzburg. If there are any further queries regarding the arrangements for the forum people are welcome to contact Peter at email: mwardern@mweb.co.za or 011-8823051.