Oil Drilling Plans Put South African Fishers, Fish Stocks at Risk

TotalEnergies, the French energy giant, intends to drill up to ten exploration wells for oil and gas in the deepwater Orange Basin along the west coast, as well as conduct sonar surveys and vertical seismic profiling, among other operations. The explorations will span from 188 kilometres offshore to 340 kilometres from the coast, writes Liezl Human for GroundUp.

Several public consultations were held in November from Hout Bay to Port Nolloth. Fishers in the small coastal town of Doringbaai say they are concerned about the impact the oil and gas explorations may have on their livelihoods.

Doringbaai was home to about 1,260 people at the time of the 2011 census, but residents say this number has possibly doubled since then. The town relies mostly on fishing and the Doring Bay abalone farm at the harbour.

"Oil and gas, and fishing cannot co-exist," says Fabian Mohammed, a fisher woman in Doringbaai. "Either you go into the ocean to catch fish or [you go] for oil and gas. But you can't do both."

"Fishing has been our livelihood for generations ... We were born here and we work here," she says. "If they are coming to drill oil, who can guarantee there will be fish left in 15 years time? What kind of future do our kids have in Doringbaai?"

Their plight is a snapshot of greater difficulties small-scale fisher face. Other mounting difficulties include declining fish stocks, climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic, and government oversight. Furthermore, fishing quotas imposed by officials have sparked violent protests in some regions.