We're gutted: Kalk Bay fishers say their way of life is over as Prince Harry visits harbour

When Prince Harry arrives at Kalk Bay harbour on Tuesday, he will no doubt be charmed by its picturesque appearance and down-to-earth atmosphere.

But behind the charm is a grimmer reality, according to a new documentary which sets out to give the small-scale fishers of the Western Cape a voice.

Gutted, produced by Greenpeace Africa, uses the Kalk Bay fishing community to explore “how laws favouring the industrialisation of fishing in SA have not only changed the socioeconomic situation of these communities, but also, the once vibrant and community-centric culture”.

Greenpeace posted a teaser for the documentary on its Facebook page on Tuesday, and will air the full-length version on its YouTube channel shortly before next month’s visit to Cape Town of its ship, Arctic Sunrise.

Prince Harry was due in Kalk Bay late on Tuesday morning to visit Seal Island with the City of Cape Town Marine Enforcement Unit.

Arctic Sunrise’s visit to the V&A Waterfront, during which it will be open to the public on October 19 and 20, is part of Greenpeace’s international ocean sanctuaries campaign, urging the UN to protect a third of the world’s oceans.

Greenpeace Africa digital mobilisation officer Angelo Louw said small-scale fishers were battling to obtain fishing permits at the same time as industrial fishing companies “continue to destroy and deplete the country’s marine resources”.

Moegamat Alie Fortune, an 85-year-old, fourth-generation fisherman from Kalk Bay, told the filmmakers: “They say you mustn’t lose your culture; but the way that things have gone, they’ve taken Kalk Bay’s culture away. They took away fishing.”

Ferial Davids, who cleans fish at the Kalk Bay quayside, said catches had declined drastically and she suspected it was a consequence of trawling.

“It’s not a lot of fish around now lately. I suppose it’s because of the big trawlers that are around. There used to be hundreds and hundreds of snoek here on the harbour; but nowadays, it’s like 10 snoek, 20 snoek, not even 100 snoek for the day,” she said.

“Over a period of 30 years, the community [has become] involved in these illegal activities, and they are criminalised based on the law that does not allow them to access the [fish] in the area that they are living in,” said Professor Moenieba Isaacs, academic coordinator at the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape.

The documentary is the first of a series of short documentaries Greenpeace has produced in the build-up to Arctic Sunrise’s Cape Town visit.

The ship is sailing from the Arctic to the Antarctic, and will arrive in Cape Town from Senegal.

“Over the last few months we have been collecting stories of hope, joy and defiance from around the world. We are in Cape Town to collect and share more of these stories, and for us to work together to defend the oceans for all future generations,” Greenpeace said on its website on Monday.