More  than 1 000 poor or destitute fishermen are to benefit from interim fishing rights which authorities are now free to grant following a Cape High Court ruling.

The court dismissed an application by the West Coast Rock Lobster Association for leave to appeal against the granting of temporary permits.

The association had wanted to stop then Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk from issuing interim relief fishing rights to 1 000 artisanal fishermen.

Association secretary Peter Foley said it had yet to meet its lawyers after the ruling to decide on any further action.

He said the association's members from Port Nolloth to Gansbaai would also be meeting after the resignation of the former chairman, Donald Grant. A new chairman is yet to be elected.

Grant stepped down on being appointed to premier Helen Zille's cabinet as education MEC. Before the ruling, Grant had said the association's court action was "based on a desire to ensure the long-term sustainability of the crayfish industry, for all who derive a livelihood from this rapidly dwindling resource".

Naseegh Jaffer, director of fishing NGO Masifundise, hailed the ruling as "yet another victory on the road to justice for small-scale fishing communities".

"Big business cannot have the monopoly over natural marine resources. Fish and fishing have provided food and supported the livelihoods of millions of people for generations ... business must accept the right of fishers to make a decent and honest living for themselves."

On Friday, Judge Dennis Davis agreed with the argument by the fishermen's advocate, Wim Trengrove, that the high court should not pass a judgment that contradicted a valid order issued by a judge in the Equality Court.

Davis concurred, stating that the high court was "not competent" to make a ruling that would contradict an Equality Court order that enabled poor and destitute fishermen to make a living.

Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich said Cosatu was "very happy" with the ruling, proclaiming it the "start of the change" for artisanal fishing rights.

Devin Hermanus