Niki Barker
The KwaZulu-Natal marine environment is being plundered by unscrupulous fishing fleet owners who are taking advantage of the government’s inability to adequately regulate fishing operations off the coast.
A recent shipping disaster in northern KwaZulu-Natal has revealed the lack of control of the lucrative prawn-fishing industry by the Department of Sea Fisheries.
Prawn trawler Ocean Spume hit a sandbank and capsized earlier this month while scooping up prawns less than 300m off the mouth of the St Lucia estuary. The trawler allegedly had five tons of prawns on board.
St Lucia residents rejoiced at its sinking, as the trawling operation has been a sore point with the townsfolk for several years.
The owner of the trawler, Jack Walsh of Durban-based Spray Fishing, says it was operating legally when it sank. But this week it emerged his fishing permit was issued only two days after the trawler went down.
A Department of Sea Fisheries official says fishing is allowed only after a vessel is in possession of the permit. “But these guys often take a chance. They know they will soon be getting their permits, and they start fishing at once – hoping no one will come aboard and check.”
Prawn trawling is certainly worth taking chances for. There is a limited season as the lifespan of prawns is short – about eight weeks. They congregate in large numbers in the shallow water off estuaries and lagoons, so it’s easy to scoop them up in large drag nets.
A single trawler can net between three and five tons a day. A catch this size would be worth about R500 000.
All commercial fishermen are compelled to pay a levy to the Department of Sea Fisheries. In the case of prawns, this levy is a remarkable R95 a ton, which works out to less than a cent a kilogram. With a market value of more than R60 a kilogram, prawn fishing is an extremely lucrative business.
When the new Living Marine Resources Act was introduced in September last year, all previous laws and licences were repealed and fishermen were required to re-apply for fishing licences.
Historically, the South African fishing industry has been Cape-based, so most attention has been paid to the protection of cold-water species such as crayfish and abalone. Prawn fishing occurs in the tropical waters of KwaZulu-Natal and Mozambique, and until recently the industry has been a bit of a free-for-all.
The KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Service has been tasked with patrolling the coastal waters of the province, and has been allocated a budget to do this.
But doubts have been expressed about its ability to protect the coast from marauding fishing boats. Reports of vessels lowering nets at night into the protected marine reserve north of St Lucia, for instance, have not been followed up as the service does not have the sea-going capacity to react to public alarms.
“Launching a boat at night to investigate is very difficult, as there is no harbour close by [to the St Lucia marine reserve]. We use the navy as much as we can, but they also have their restrictions,” says an officer in the conservation service.
“However, we are still fortunate. The Eastern Cape and Transkei have no policing at all. Their fishing is wrecked.”
The conservation service says the Ocean Spume matter is under investigation. “We need to get samples of the catch, and sworn statements as to whether the trawler was actually engaged in fishing.”
Proof of the trawler’s activities will not be slow in coming. The residents of coastal towns such as Zinkwazi, Mtunzini, Tugela and St Lucia have been protesting for many years against the presence of trawlers a few hundred metres from their beaches. Their protests have been based on environmental and economic concerns.
St Lucia’s economy relies entirely on fishing and tourism. Businesspeople in the town accuse the trawlers of destroying the food chain off the sensitive St Lucia estuary mouth and damaging fish populations. They stress that the area is a proposed World Heritage Site and deserves protection.
There are also concerns about the safety of bathers, surfers and divers, as the trawlers operate just beyond the line of breakers, less than 300m offshore.
Residents are preparing a petition in an attempt to pressure the government into extending the boundaries of the present marine reserve, where no fishing should be allowed.