UPDATE: Night fishing ban plan exposes ‘turf war’

A ‘turf war’ is threatening to erupt between local fishermen and residents over the right to fish along the coastline that falls in the Clansthal Conservancy area.

The fishermen claim that the proposal by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) to prohibit night fishing on the Clansthal stretch of coastline is a ‘turf war’ and the residents simply do not want them fishing there.

At a public meeting held last month at the Italian Club in Umkomaas to discuss the proposal, the fishermen’s representative, Abel Chetty said the chairman confirmed the no take zone between Widenham River and Back Rocks River was agreed upon by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife on behalf of Phakisa and the Clansthal Conservancy.

“The Clansthal Conservancy is a group of well-off people who own the properties along and close to the beach. The residents believe they own the shoreline along their properties and the fishermen are on private properties.

The conservancy make their own laws and put up notices restricting fishermen from fishing in the Clansthal area.”

Clansthal Conservancy vice-chairman, Keith Cunningham refuted the allegations, saying they just want to protect their stretch of coastline. “The Clansthal Conservancy had no input into this proposal in the Government Gazette,” said Cunningham.

“The current proposal as published in the Government Gazette of 3 February 2016 proposes to prohibit fishing from the shore or from boats at night. The proposal by the Aliwal Shoal Forum recommends that this prohibition is not extended to shore or rock fishing, but is retained for fishing from boats. The no fishing at night for boats or shore and rock, if adopted by the DEA, will only come into effect once the changes are promulgated, which will probably only be in 2017 or even 2018.

We want to ‘protect’ our stretch of beaches and rocky points. If we do not, no-one else will. Fishermen are the biggest single risk to the continued viability of this section of coast.

No-one will be stopped from coming to these beaches or points, they will just not be able to fish or harvest.

From Cape Vidal to the KZN and Transkei border, there is no section of beach where fishing and harvesting is prohibited. This is 380km. We are proposing that six kilometres (and an additional 1km south of Rocky Bay which is not being challenged by the fishermen) or 1.8% of the KZN coast is off-limits. Six kilometres in an MPA of 40km is not too much to ask.

We are the only conservation NGO which is willing and able to help rehabilitate and police the beaches, and we want to. No-one will be stopped from coming to these beaches or points, they will just not be able to fish or harvest.

Bear in mind that when fish stocks begin to increase there is a spill-over effect and the areas immediately adjacent to the no take zones will have better fishing, so the fishermen will benefit.”

Cunningham said conservancy members support a no take zone, banning fishing completely from along their stretch of coast rather than just a night-time ban because they believe at the current rate of extraction there will be no fishing in a couple of decades. “We have to begin allowing places of refuge for marine animals to begin to build up stocks. All marine organisms are being hammered.

Another aspect is that we live in this area, we are willing to forgo fishing and harvesting of marine organisms, we clean the beaches and the mess that fishermen make.

Something and someone has to give. We’ve made a proposal to attempt to protect, build-up and retain a little piece of our coast where marine organisms have a chance to flourish.

The fishermen and their supporters such as dive operators, spearfishermen, ski-boat and commercial fishermen want to carry on as they always have. If that happens the local fishing industry, subsistence and recreational fishing will go the way of the Sardine Run. That biomass has been fished out in the southern Cape waters and now it has gone. We don’t want that to happen and we can make a difference here.”
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