Fishers Battle to Survive Strict Quotas

With the fishing industry in decline, boat owners and fishing businesses are unable to maintain vessels. Many lie submerged along the quay. Fishers say the government has forgotten about them and has let critical harbour and port infrastructure collapse. But the fisheries department is currently fixing small harbours in the Western Cape and salvaging sunken vessels.

Generational fishermen from villages and towns along the South African coast were once able to earn a decent living and feed their families by fishing.

But as fish stocks have depleted, the government has had to introduce strict quotas and permit conditions. Some areas along the coast have been closed for fishing to protect pelagic fish stocks for endangered penguin colonies.

Purse-sein (a type of fishing net) fishers have already met their quotas for the year and have been unable to work for months.

The purse-seine fishing industry has been in decline in recent years due to depleting pelagic fish stocks, resulting in strict quotas, particularly for pilchards and sardines.

Boats and some of their crews have not been able to work for months because their quotas for pelagic fish species have already been met for the fishing season.

Boats are undergoing maintenance during the downtime. Boats must pass annual surveys of seaworthiness to be allowed to put to sea. The constant upkeep is a massive cost.

Many fishermen have not worked for months. Larger fishing companies are also feeling the pinch, with possible factory closures along the coast in Gansbaai, Mossel Bay, and St Helena Bay.

The coastal town of Kalk Bay, Cape Town, is but one example of how much has changed.

“The boats are just lying on the quays. In my grandfather’s day, the boats were out fishing for any species every day, weather permitting. Our people were able to make a living. Even if it wasn’t a lot, at least they would eat,” says boat owner Kobus Poggenpoel.

“Since the government stopped purse seine fishing and closed False Bay to all net fishing, the fishermen moved up the coast to Hermanus and Gansbaai, and then to Mossel Bay. Today, the Kalk Bay fishing village is dormant; the government seems more interested in tourism.

“The people come and they like our boats. They’re colourful. They like photographing them and painting them. But that doesn’t help us pay the bills, the crew fees, the slip fees, the maintenance and upkeep of these boats. We do that without any help from the government.”

The harbour’s once-bustling fish market and fishmongers are no longer there. Most of the boats are geared for crayfish season, working only between November and March each year, and are moored for most of the year, with their crew going without pay for months.

Many generations of fishers worked every day from Kalk Bay and were able to raise their children. But today, with declines in fishing stocks, harbours like Kalk Bay focus more on tourism.

Obaide Clarke says; “My whole schooling, whatever clothing I’ve had or have on now – everything comes from work out of the sea. Hopefully, I can take over from my grandfather if the government allows and grants us something to go forward, so I can go to college and become a captain like my grandfather. That is my goal, that is my passion, that is my dream.”

Kobus Poggenpoel, born in Kalk Bay, grew up in the 1950s and 60s, fishing with his father and grandfather out of the small harbour every day. But the industry has become increasingly regulated, with quotas getting stricter over the decades to prevent over-fishing and protect seabirds.

While long-line fishermen continue to work outside of the natural trawl grounds targeting both Kingklip and Hake species, traditional purse-seine fishing has closed for the year as the lowered quota limits were met months ago.

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