Fishing for their rights

Protesting fishermen used rope to barricade themselves in the foyer of a government building in Cape Town on Monday to draw attention to their grievances.

The group of about 60, mostly from fishing communities in the southern peninsula, tied the front door entrance of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries closed, insisting on a meeting with Minister Senzeni Zokwana.

Protesters shouted and slammed their fists against a metal detector at the front reception, prompting security personnel to intervene.

The group dispersed after handing over a memorandum to department officials in the absence of the minister, who is in China. A follow-up meeting has been scheduled for next week.

Several protesters said fishing communities were struggling to survive because of the department's recent fishing quota allocations which, they claimed, favoured large companies at the expense of new entrants.

The group claims to have been routinely ignored by senior officials, including the minister, despite the department's professed developmental agenda.

"It is a sad reality that many governmental departments react only when communities are at the end of their tether and are forced to resort to acts of civil disobedience and public unrest to have their voices heard," the memorandum said, adding that the department had failed to implement the long-awaited small-scale fishing policy, as per an Equality Court order several years ago. In the interim several communities had been largely excluded from commercial fishing rights allocations.

"We no longer believe or trust your department and officials who continually mislead communities into believing that there is relief in sight," the memorandum said.

SA United Fishing Front spokesman Pedro Garcia said Monday's protest was prompted by the latest west coast rock lobster allocations, which he said favoured companies at the expense of traditional fishing communities.

"Communities are tired. This is no longer a fight about rights, it is now turning into a fight for survival," Garcia said.

The group is calling for a coastal "buffer zone" for exclusive use by traditional fishing communities. It wants a ban on lobster traps which, it claims, are destroying the natural marine environment and destroying valuable fish stocks.

"Fish are moving further afield, out of the reach of local fishermen," Garcia said. "The department needs to come to the party.

"It can't keep saying it has a developmental approach and talk about restoring rights when there is every indication that it is marginalising the small guys even further."

Ministerial spokesman Steve Galane said the minister intended to meet the protesters as soon as he returned next week. He confirmed the department had received a memorandum "with a long list of demands".