Fishermen protest over oil searches
THE KwaZulu-Natal fishing community opened a campaign yesterday against gas and oil exploration along the coastline.
They say government permission for seismic drilling tests will destroy the livelihood of about 12 000 subsistence fishermen.
South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) head Desmond d’Sa said he wanted to send a clear message to the oil cartel that the alliance would not allow them to destroy the KwaZulu-Natal coastline.
“You have destroyed other parts of the world‚ don’t destroy us‚ our fishing reserves‚ our food‚ our benefits to our homes and families,” D’Sa said.
“We are today launching the project called Fish Not Oil. We can’t eat oil and we can’t eat money‚ but we can eat fish and sell fish to feed our families.
“Our fish are destroyed by gas and oil exploration. [The] government [cannot allow] oil companies who have destroyed the Gulf of Mexico to come and destroy our coast.
“Fishing communities are unique. There are thousands of fishermen in Durban who live off fishing‚” D’Sa said.
Last year‚ the Petroleum Agency of South Africa (Pasa) reportedly granted French company Schlumberger a licence to conduct a 3D seismic survey in South African waters.
Nigeria’s Health of Mother Earth Foundation director Nnimmo Bassey said he had been collaborating with the SDCEA in building a continent-wide campaign with the fisher folk across the continent.
Pasa did not respond to queries.