Although people seldom connect the fishing industry with the Internet, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism is set to change that.
The department recently invited fishing companies to apply for long-term Cluster A commercial fishing rights.
Cluster A includes hake deep sea trawl, hake inshore trawl, horse mackerel, small pelagics, Patagonian tooth fish, South Coast rock lobster and KZN prawn trawl.
The department decided to go the electronic route and stipulated that all applications had to be done online.
"The electronic process was embarked on because the Cluster A sector is highly technical and the right resources and equipment had to be used for it," says department communications officer Carol Moses.
The department will follow suit in other clusters too, but Moses says it will be a gradual process. "Cluster A has set a trend for the future."
The minister will publish invitations for Cluster B, which includes West Coast rock lobster (offshore), hake long line, squid, tuna pole, seaweed and demersal shark, and Cluster C, including handline hake and West Coast rock lobster (near shore) fisheries next month.
Cluster D, encompassing oysters, white mussels, net fishing (small nets/gillnets and beach seine/trek-nets) and KZN beach seine fisheries, will be announced in August.
"A manual process will continue to be in place for these clusters for a long while to come, but when the electronic process for Cluster A becomes successful and efficient, then we`ll look at going the electronic route for the other clusters too."
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