SOUTH AFRICA: Incidents of harassment of Cape fur seals have become a cause for concern as members of the public have been reportedly throwing stones at seals, enticing them to chase people for social media footage and even hitting seals with paddles while canoeing. In one case a seal was fatally injured.

The International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) Council will meet next week for its 130^th Session ahead of the Assembly’s 33^rd Session that kicks off on 27 November, which will include the election of the new incoming Council as well as the official acceptance of the new Secretary General, Arsenio Antonio Dominguez Velasco who is due to being his four-year term on 1 January 2024.

SOUTH AFRICA: The era of interim relief declared for small scale fishers will come to an end as 62 small scale fishing cooperatives in the Western Cape became the recipients of the historical small scale rights.

SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa’s intention to establish a National Petroleum Company (NPC) took a step forward this week with the release for comments of the Draft South African National Petroleum Company Bill. Interested parties have until 13 December to make submissions on the Bill.

NAMIBIA: An environmental and geophysical survey is being undertaken to map one of Namibia’s most challenging and remote offshore locations that is key to the country’s future energy operations.

SOUTH AFRICA: Key areas of South Africa’s maritime administration will be audited under the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) Member State Audit Scheme this week after it was postponed in 2021 due to COVID-19.

It’s been five years since the International Maritime Organisation instituted mandatory audits of Member States in February 2016 and a total of 113 audits have been undertaken – including 28 African countries.  

ANGOLA: In an effort to address Angola’s over-reliance on the export of crude oil which currently represents almost 95% of the country’s exports, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) partnered with Nha Trang University of Vietnam to host a workshop to help unlock Angola’s fisheries and aquaculture sector.