WATCH: Cape fisherman gutted by laws

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Cape Town - The heritage of local fishing communities has been deteriorating fast over the years due to conflict between small-scale fisherman and laws that prevent their livelihoods. A documentary will be launched by Greenpeace Africa at the end of this month to tell the story of the challenges local fishers are experiencing in Kalk Bay. A fisher from Ocean View who has been fishing in Western Cape for 34 years, Charles America, 63, said: “The history of local fishermen has been destroyed by the capitalist approach towards fishing. Fishing is like a craftsmanship and it’s carried from one generation to the next. Local individuals still largely depend on fishing for income. However, access to this fishing has been eradicated for us completely.” America said fishing laws were unequal and export-oriented. These laws were no longer benefiting the people and decisions were made to favour the large industrial fishing companies. The chief executive of the South African Fisheries Development Fund, Dr Mark Botha, said: “In the past, local fishing villages were quite vibrant, and the heritage is also being lost due to the conflict among fishermen.

“Fishing laws were created to protect marine resources but often at the peril of fishing communities. Consequently, the heritage or historical significance of once thriving fishing communities is now lost.

“The memories of these communities is kept alive by stories told by ageing fishers, mostly over the age of 60. We need to revive the heritage of fishing communities.

“One way is storytelling tourism.”

A fourth-generation fisher from Kalk Bay, Moegamat Alie Fortune, 85, said: “It’s said that you mustn’t lose your culture, but the way things have gone, they’ve taken Kalk Bay’s culture away. They took away fishing.”

Moegamat Alie Fortune, 85, a fourth-generation fisherman. Picture: Supplied

Angelo Louw, producer of the Gutted documentary, which explores the effects of harmful industrial fishing, said: “We wanted to showcase the issues local fishermen experience in the Western Cape and aim to amplify their voices to steer an active change.

“Generations of fishermen couldn’t get fishing rights and we hope to change this by sending this message globally,” she said.

“People have been going to catch fish in the seas for years and now they’re being stopped.

“If the law was structured better, this could prevent the conflict between fishermen.

“The fish value chain needs to be properly assessed. We need to ask the question: How can we assist a local fisher to benefit from the value chain?”

The documentary can be found on Greenpeace Africa’s YouTube channel at the end of this month, and is the first of a series of short documentaries.

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