Marine Living Resources Act, 1998 (Act No. 18 of 1998)RegulationsRegulations for the Entry of Foreign Fishing Vessels into South African Waters, 2025Chapter 3 - General8. Stowage of fishing gear and transshipment |
| (1) | The master of a foreign vessel must stow fishing gear in accordance with subregulation (2) before entering and when traversing South African waters, and within a port. |
| (2) | Fishing gear must be stowed in the following manner: |
| (a) | in the case of line fishing, all hooks, lures, sinkers and weights must be disconnected from the line, all the lines must be reeled onto the reel or rolled up, and that rolled up line, hooks, lures, bait and weights on the vessel must be packed away in a cabin, locker, hatch, wheel house or console of the vessel, or where that is not possible, placed on the deck of the vessel; |
| (b) | in the case of purse-seine fishing, no gear may be in the water; |
| (c) | in the case of trawl fishing, all nets, trawl boards and weights must be stowed below deck or securely lashed to some part of the superstructure of the fishing vessel; |
| (d) | in the case of rock lobster fishing, all traps, nets and ropes must be on board and tied down, and all dinghies must be on board and lashed to the fishing vessel; |
| (e) | in the case of fishing with traps, other than rock lobster traps, all traps must be on board and tied down; |
| (f) | in the case of any other nets including gillnets, cast nets and throw nets, nets must be on board and packed away in a console, locker or any other suitable container; |
| (g) | in the case of pole fishing, all poles will be secured above deck; |
| (h) | in the case of longline fishing, no branchline may be attached to the mainline and the entire mainline must remain on the spool; and |
| (i) | in respect of all types of fishing where bait is used, that bait must remain packed away or placed into a bait well, where available. |
| (3) | No person may transship at sea unless authorised by a permit issued in terms of section 13 of the Act. |