Small-Scale Western Cape Fishers Get 'Crumbs' Despite Permits Win

Despite 3,850 fishers in the Western Cape being granted 15-year fishing rights, some have criticized the Department of of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment's decision to reduce the total allowable catch allocations (for all kinds of fisheries) for West Coast Rock Lobster by more than 16% for the 2023-2024 fishing season, GroundUp reports.

A fisher from Arniston, Rovina Europa, said the Department's decision amounted to "giving crumbs to fishermen", adding that "most households" depend on rock lobster for their livelihoods because "they know it is the only income which they can rely on".

Sue Middleton, deputy director-general of fisheries management, noted that while the decision was unpopular, it was done to preserve sustainable West Coast Rock Lobster numbers, a resource listed as being under threat. "Unless we take drastic measures to address the situation, the resource will decline even further to unsustainable harvestable levels," said Middleton.

Western Cape fishers' battle for permits comes after rights were granted for the Northern Cape in 2018, and in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Fishers sill face environmental threats in the form of oil giants like Shell whose pursuit of a a seismic survey off the Wild Coast presents another existential challenge to their livelihoods.