Small-scale fishers cast a line at last
The Cape Times’ Big Friday Read is a series of feature articles focusing on the forgotten issues that often disappear with the fast news cycles, and also where we feature the everyday heroes who go out of their way to change the lives of others in their communities. This, too, is a place to focus on those whose voices are not heard.
FOR Mamu Mzimkulu it has been a tough few months without any income.
She finally had some relief when her husband, Sibusiso, left for the sea recently to catch fish and squid to provide for his family.
This came with the announcement by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment that small-scale fishers in the Eastern Cape – who had been deprived of the right to catch their own squid for many years – were allocated 15-year fishing rights, including squid.
Their allocation makes up 15% of the 295 000 person-days and 15% of 2 443 crew for the 2021/2022 squid fishing season.
The move had been blocked by bigger commercial players through litigation for years.
Asked how she felt, 55-year-old Mzimkulu from Gqeberha said: “It has been hard. We are struggling. When the season opens he goes out for 21 days but you never know how much money he will come home with.
“He has been fishing since 1986. For now we have not had a choice because they have the boats; we don’t have any boats so we have to work for a commission from the owner.
“Sometimes it’s 12%, sometimes it’s 15%. We hope in the future we can have our own boat.
“My dream I can’t even explain, I want to build our own house or add more rooms. We are staying in a tworoom house and there are six children and seven grandchildren.”
The Cape Times tried unsuccessfully to speak with Sibusiso as he was out fishing.
Kareedouw small-scale fisher co-op chairperson Freddie Kettledas said it was still a long way to go for small fishers to reap major financial benefits from the sector, but the allocation represented great progress.
“Commercial companies have enriched themselves on behalf of our people doing the job. We can’t allow that to continue.
“You go to sea, come back with squid and they buy it for a penny. If the beach price is R80 a kilo you only get a percentage, which is normally under 10%; the 90% is supposedly for wages, maintenance on the boat, processing and all that.
“In the meantime, they’re selling it for the export price which is something like R250 a kilo. With the permits in our hands we have more negotiating power because they need the permits, so we can create better agreements that perhaps offer 50/50.
“So for now, our co-op has decided not to go to sea yet because we are still waiting for the department to issue the permits. They have confirmed they are almost done processing it.
“I am working hard negotiating from 4 in the morning until 11 at night. In the beginning I was negotiating with a big marketing company which wanted to rob us of our permits. After 15 years you still have nothing.
“Now we have an agreement that may allow us to buy shares in a boat.
“At the end of the day we have to keep our sights on the bigger picture. It’s not about making money now, but about establishing a successful co-operative that can benefit our communities for future generations.”
Kettledas added that in the co-op everyone was equal, which meant that whatever profits the co-op generated would be shared equally among its members and a portion used to further uplift their communities.
The goal for all co-ops was to obtain their own boats.