Only locals have the right to go fishing here

WE READ with disbelief an opinion piece written by Keith Bryer. His opinion piece (dated January 15, 2016) made inaccurate assumptions about the following:

In fact, it was communicated widely in media, social media and departmental, as well as SanParks websites, that the following people would be permitted to fish in Tsitsikamma:

Only those residing between Covie and the Bloukrans River, and those residing in the Koukamma municipal area and in possession of a valid identity document and proof of residency in these aforementioned areas to be considered for fishing permits. To date we have had 550 registered local anglers only and 200 who actually fished from December 15, 2015, and January 8, 2016.

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Nothing has changed. The pilot project allowed 20 percent of the coastline to be a controlled monitored open area for fishing and 80 percent of the coastline would remain a no-take zone.

100 percent of offshore would also remain a no-take zone.

The Garden Route National Park, which stretches from Wilderness to Knysna to Tsitsikamma, is a mosaic of landscapes and seascapes, and a haven for birds and animals, including seabirds, rare and endangered species.

In general, the greater the extent of favourable reef habitat in an unexploited area the more reef fish. Fishing can impact different species differently and will reduce fish numbers, particularly of large fish, and change relative abundance of different species.

All five of South Africa’s marine protected areas (MPAs) with a coastal boundary declared since 2003 (when we hosted the World Parks Congress, which contributed to a new vision for MPAs) have allowed recreational line fishing from at least part of the coastline, in the knowledge that this access often catered for poorer portions of the community. (The two exceptions are Bird Island in the middle of Algoa Bay and the Prince Edward Island MPA in the middle of the Southern Ocean!).

In the Garden Route, the Goukamma and Robberg MPAs both allow shore-based line fishing. The Robberg MPA in Plettenberg Bay allows line fishing from the shore, currently around its whole coastline. In addition, anglers can fish to the east and to the west of Robberg. Tsitsikamma residents, who are hardly an elite group, have requested for similar reasonable access for decades, so they are not being disadvantaged relative to persons residing between Natures Valley and Robberg to the west of Tsitsikamma or Eerste River to the east, where simple physical access also remains problematic.

The Department of Environmental Affairs and SanParks remain committed to a dual function of providing benefits for society and of ensuring that such benefits are protected for future generations. NANDI MGWADLAMBA COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER SANPARKS: GARDEN ROUTE NATIONAL PARK

“To allow fishing by weekend anglers, rich holiday makers with deep freezers and anyone who can bait a hook.”

How the same department once described the Tsitsikamma National Park as a mosaic of ecosystems… so what changed?”

Quotes the words of a local conservationist “allowing fishing in a marine reserve defeats the purpose, and opens the door to cheating and corruption”.