A foreign fishing vessel is a vessel that is registered with another country's flag state (not South Africa). You must apply for a fishing vessel licence with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in Cape Town.
A foreign fishing vessel is a vessel that is registered with another country's flag state (not South Africa). You must apply for a fishing vessel licence with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in Cape Town.
To operate a local fishing vessel in South Africa, the vessel must be registered with the South African flag state. You must apply for a safety certificate from the South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) and a fishing vessel licence from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in Cape Town.
For the vessel to be licensed, you must have a joint venture with a South African fishing right holder. In order for the vessel to be authorised, you must complete an application form for a catch permit according to the sector in which the vessel will fish. If you want the vessel to fish on the high seas during the charter period, you must complete the High Seas application form.
The South African fishing right holder can only hire the vessel under exceptional circumstances to engage in fishing activities within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) or in international waters under South African flag state.
- All foreign vessels must have a functional INMARSAT C VMS on board that reports to the Branch: Fisheries Management in Cape Town. The Branch: Fisheries Management's VMS Operation Section will verify this.
Before engaging in fishing activities, you must contact the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Cape Town (see contact details below) to determine whether hiring of a foreign vessel will be allowed in a particular fishing sector and what documents are needed.
The fishing vessel must undergo a South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) sea-worthy evaluation procedure at your (owner) expense.
The vessel must be registered with the South African flag state. You must apply for a safety certificate from the South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) and a fishing vessel licence from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in Cape Town.
To qualify, you must be a:
These activities include, but are not limited to:
Note: It is unlawful to use an unregistered vessel. If you do not have fishing rights, you must have a contract with the fishing right holder to operate your vessel.
A commercially registered fishing vessel may not be used for recreational purposes.
Commercially registered fishing vessels are linked to a specific fishing right and can be used for that right only.
The validity period of the fishing vessel license is linked to the validity period of the SAMSA certificate. The fishing vessel licence is valid for the same period as the SAMSA certificate.
All water users need to register with the Department of Water Affairs. You must register for water use if you do not receive water from a service provider, local authority, water board, irrigation board, government water scheme or other bulk supplier and are using water for:
A mining permit may only be issued if:
In future, when water users are required to apply for licences, those who did not register will lower their chances of getting a licence to use water.
