What is the MLRA and the MLRF? 

The MLRA is South Africa’s piece of national legislation that restricts and controls the usage of all marine resources along our coastline.  It covers size and bag limits for all recreational and commercially targeted fish and bait organisms. It also lays out the regulations for protected and closed areas as well as dealing with issues such as mariculture and harbours.  Largely, the recreational fisherman is mostly affected by its’ regulations regarding size and bag limits for our most commonly targeted fish and bait species.

Prior to the MLRA, the Sea Fisheries Act of 1973, regulated the use of certain marine resources.  The Sea Fisheries Act was revised in 1984 with new catch restrictions being placed on recreational anglers.  Based on research showing that daily bag limits and size limits were not effective enough to ensure the recovery of fish stocks, the MLRA was gazetted in 1998 and now supercedes the Sea Fisheries Act.  
At present the MLRA regulations have been set according to years of research.  Local and international scientists from Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) and Universities have been studying commonly targeted marine resources for decades.  MCM, the management authority of marine resources, use this science to inform management decisions. For example, countless dissections of fish have revealed at what size different fish start to breed.  The state of the reproductive organs reveal whether the fish has bred or not. What scientists have been able to determine, is an average size where 50% of fish have bred at least once.  Let us use galjoen as an example to explain this better.  The size limit for galjoen is set at 35cm.  This means that if you catch 20 galjoen in a season and they all measure 35cm, at least ten of them have had the chance to breed once. These studies have been carried out for nearly all of the most commonly targeted fish along South Africa’s coast. In summary, size limits ensure 50% breeding, which in turn ensures future catches.
The Sea Fisheries Fund under the Sea Fisheries Act of 1988, has since been changed, and is now known as the Marine Living Resources Fund under the MLRA.  The Fund obtains its money from various different sources namely; all fines and penalties committed under the MLRA, all revenue from the sale of confiscated gear, vehicles and fish, all related permit fees (i.e. Fishing licenses), budgets set aside by Parliament, all interest on investments, any donations and any levy on marine resources collected according to the MLRA.  

The Fund is managed by the Director-General of Marine and Coastal Management.  The Director-General is responsible for accounting for the Funds’ income and expenditure at the end of every financial year, as well as being responsible for any investments of the Fund for later use.  Any money not expended at the end of the financial year will be carried over to the next financial year.  The Marine Living Resources fund is to be used for the management of South Africa’s marine resources under the MLRA, including any activity needed to achieve the objectives of the MLRA.  Some examples of theses management aspects are the employment of fishery control officers and vessels that patrol our coastline.  A portion of this fund is made available to other authorities managing our coastline, such as CapeNature, SANParks and some conservancies.  Another portion of the fund is used for the continuous research relating to the marine environment.  

Therefore, you protect the very fish you will catch in the future by adhering to regulations whilst your permit fees contribute to the funds used for science and protection efforts