Policy evolution in South African fisheries: the governance of the sector for small pelagics

Abstract

This article analyses the evolution of policy in South Africa's fishing industry using the fishery for small pelagics as a case study. Policy changes were largely instigated to reverse the inequitable distribution of economic resources and productive assets that had historically favoured the white minority at the dawn of democracy in 1994. The analysis combines ‘actor-oriented’ and ‘institutional’ perspectives, and proposes that the evolution of policy is driven by interests, networks, alliances and discourses, which are largely determined by the power and resources that can be mustered by specific actors. A major lesson from the study is that it is particularly difficult for new entrants to influence policy for transforming capital intensive fisheries, where the need for capital, market forces and conservation ideology collude to raise the entry bar.