We, The People’s DDG Support Group Striking….A Pose/Protest

Not too long ago in a land far far away…actually in Hout Bay which at times can be considered just that, there was a mighty gathering of concerned citizens. At a glance from over the magical mountain in the picturesque valley all did not appear well. The humble citizens were up in arms over the recent axing of their savior, a one Desmond Stevens.

At 10 am one good morning after having offloaded the hake long liner, Valhalla there was an almighty commotion at the entrance to the harbor. Ten taxis had systematically with military precision managed to block the entrance.  The number plates were all from CAM - Caledon & Kleinmond, Cape Province. It seems that the event organisers arranged a “protest for hire” when all the concerned citizens filed out the taxis and gathered along Harbor Road to dance, shout, scream and do all things necessary and ancillary for a good ol toi toi. Fashioning their ANC flags and Zuma T shirts, the mob was well and truly adequately dressed. But were they? The message being broadcast aloud by the bull horn was that of a conflicting story of how the ruling party mustn't turn their backs and ignore this small law abiding community and the pending promises. While the hired help seemed to go about their business of toi toing, the community who were actually up in arms at this stage soon realised their embarrassing mistake and soon the ANC flags were dropped and ushered to the rear.  The reasons for this formal gathering of sorts was to voice their disapproval of the axing of their comrade Desmond Stevens, who promised the local community an avenue for which to voice their opinions to actively engaged the Department. Well you see, it turns out that they were requesting free quotas I mean, how much more perlemoen and crayfish do you want unlevied i.e. free? Anyways, as a historical fishing community they are ENTITLED to free quotas to go forth and do as their father’s father’s you name it had done and actively fish...according to the long grey haired rusta with the bull horn.

What a fantastic idea and concept?! If this is the case then why am I not ENTITLED to half of Cape Town Harbor? My Great Great Grandfather was the original port’s captain/ harbor master. Surely I should be allowed to claim half of the V&A Waterfront? With the sands of time comes about change and with change (expedited for those of the previously disadvantaged) since 1994, those who were ENTITLED enough got their own whilst the gettings good? When will the statutes of limitation end here?

To add to the general over all convoluted concept of this gathering, the langaanas arrived and joined in on the action to protest as they want to enforce that a portion of all hake landed in this harbor is to be sold to the “locals.” The problem with this is that due to the ANC granting quotas to their choms and comrades in South Western Township, there are those who merely catch the quotas for their holders who are land locked. As is the case with the Valhalla, they are merely vessel owners and don’t have a single kilogram of hake to their names. The right holder can insist as to where the hake is to sold and offloaded too which is the case with some. So as much as I support their particular cause, we would like to sell hake to the informal non vat registered cash traders, but alas we have to obey the wishes of our comrades.

Meanwhile stuck and stranded inside the confines of the harbor fence were numerous trucks and bakkies laden with fresh fish of all sorts including an airfreight cargo truck collecting tuna to be hastily hauled to the airport to meet the respective deadline for export. But just like this truck stood idle, so did the various tour operator buses and vans who with their international tourists were forced in having their Cape Peninsula Tour cut short. In fact one particular tour operator had to have transported the tourists to the airport to meet their flight check in time of 3 pm… needless to say I’m sure they were upset to say the least.

So with the bull horn being passed around like the proverbial hot potato, the messages were becoming even more confusing so I took it upon myself to investigate this inconvenience. In doing so I managed to retrieve a flyer that was being passed through car windows of passer byes. A copy of the flyer is here below for you to read further, but to summarise it for you it contains the following:

Due to the white controlled media, the murmurings, rumours and “white noise” ultimately cost Desmond his position. I wonder if they have ever heard of one Dr. Igbal Surve and a little concern of his called Sekunjalo Independent Media Consortium (SIM)? This ANC stalwart is the majority shareholder of The Independent News Papers who recently at will axes editor’s and senior staff, etc who portrays himself, his company and the ANC in any bad light or disrepute. So not sure who needs to check up on their facts here but I guess the author of the flyer needs Google to clarify his “white noise comment.”

But what I found interesting and a point that warrants further investigating is why Inspector Levie had locked the rear harbour entrance (closest to Snookies)? Needless to say, Tina Joemat-Pettersen didn't arrive as requested by the DDG Support Group who were by now becoming more tired than restless and promptly at 4 pm the taxis loaded their paying fare and departed the scene. Community policing did nothing but stare and pose for the local journalists. Only the hard working small to medium businesses were affected here and if I hadn't written about this then I too probably would have forgotten about that day in a place over the hill far far away when my day was wasted.

Dear Editor...Traditional Line Fishery, Uncontrolled Beast or Cash Cow?

I came across this letter which from what I can tell hasn't made its way onto paper yet and proves to be a very insightful perspective on the line fishery, in general. I had to clean up the language a little but I feel the point is still adequately presented.

Dear Editor,

This fishery is grossly mismanaged in terms of its resource demographics. The department through blatant ignorance has allowed this industry to grow into an uncontrollable beast.

One of the effort controlling factors, vessel size, and the departments lack of economic viability studies is in actual fact its greatest downfall.

The latest outcry of line fishers to the improper allocation should be a wake up call to all managing this industry. Not only to the departmental clowns but also to all the right holders that have ridden this fat cow for years, raped the resources, reaped the benefits and stand around crying because they cant get organized and refuse to adhere to legislation or at the very least try change it. (Read all about the issues surrounding the towing of the line fisher's ski boats in my previous blog titled: Somehow Towing The Line...I mean Boat.)

How does the line fishery make money? How do you do this? Simple.... catch more fish than anyone else. So the guy with the biggest, fastest boat with the most crew fundamentally makes the most, yes…. Not anymore.

The fleet has reached critical mass in terms of vessel size. A large portion of operators now own 25 to 28 foot vessels that seems to be the boundary of where they are prepared to illegally tow and what can be accommodated in the harbors. So know they are forced lie later and later in the day to do volume. This hinders the small entrepreneur and small scale subsistence fisher as the fish prices fall to stupidly low prices where the small boats up to 6 man, cannot even cover there expenses.

The hawkers love it! WHY…? On any given day when there is ok fish, the first few boats get R25 to R30 for 500 fish, the middle boats just cover their day at R20 and hey presto the fat cats come in with 1000 and 2000 and flood the market down to R15. Then all you need is the one or two hawkers that intimidate the show and that price can drop to R10. What chance does the poor single engine guy have… Absolutely nothing at all …. Giving him a right to fish a 4 man or 5 man boat or permit is like an oasis mirage in the desert. Sounds good, looks good but not worth it at all.

Why are hawkers up in arms, SIMPLE… check the revenue from snoek…. When last did you buy a snoek at under R35? Friends of mine regularly pay up to R70 off bakkies… Granted there is high spoilage but someones making big bucks …. Its time the snoek industry owns up and comes clean, its no use hiding behind the skirts of the poor fisherman of the traditional line fishery.

Why do you think the crews are up in arms…. That guy that spent his whole pension made it easy for me, I didn’t have a care in the world except get to a harbor, I buy R200's worth of  tackle and I get half of what I catch. On a day that can be nothing…. Yes but generally in the order of R500 to R1000 per day. Never mind the days when we get the “geluk” where salaries are as high as R2000 per day when some of the tougher guys take risks and force the elements.

On  a typical snoek run in ST Helena that lasts 6 weeks, moderate operators catch over 1000 fish a day at R20. Crewmen earn up to R1000 per day plus “fries” up to 10 that they sell at R30. Paints a different picture doesn’t it? The odd idiot that complains about this arrangement is exactly what I described him as. For nearly no investment or responsibility a motivated crewman can easily pocket R80 000 to R100 000 in cash a year, TAX FREE. This also free him up to do odd jobs now and again as so many do.

The line fishery, the fat cash cow with its uncontrolled salary structures in alliance with uncontrolled poaching and interim relief … has been instrumental in the decimation of tuna pole crews and loss of skills in this sector. Why its simply easier to go fish 2 to 3 days a week make substantial tax free salary and sit at home waiting for your crayfish money than actually go to sea for a week and work for it.

Do youreslf a quick check on these figures. Take any one of the ten top line fish boats that regularly catches over 1000 fish a day in St Helena Bay, (I omitted the vessel names that were specifically mentioned here) …. And see if they are VAT registered or if the pay PAYE or workmen's compensation. Maybe  one. The reality of a snoek run just here, regardless of all the rest is as follows: 30 000 fish at R20 turns over R600 000.

Wages for 10 guys is easily up to R25000 per man in a month to 6 weeks. All cash. This is boosted by snoek runs that are shorter but no less intense in Lamberts Bay,  Cape Point and Hout Bay. The yellow tail runs once  a year at the point and Struis also contribute. Last year the snoek fleet arrived en mass in Struis Baai and totally upset the market there. In the first week we had 4 sea days where almost all the boats averaged between 1.5 and 4 tons a day. One of the vessels figures showed 8 tons, actual not the bullshit submitted in the catch returns which at that stage constituted R160 000  in four days. Crew's take home pay was up to R10 000 for the week for the better guys.

I would conservatively say that the top end operators are turning over in excess of R 1.5 million a year and are not declaring it correctly. What they do is they only declare their half of the catch, not the crews half… which is incorrect as the  law clearly stipulates that the right has the authority to sell fish and not the crew. Hence the right owner is responsible for all the sales turnover. The right holders maintain that the crew are contractors, but from a SARS perspective maintains that there is an implied relationship hence the right holder is responsible for taxation. Its lucky that this is a free for all and cash business where there is almost no way to track money and you can declare what you like as is the case with their DAFF catch returns. (How nice would this be if the tuna pole sector was allowed this luxury?)

It would be interesting to see what would happen if SARS applied itself to this industry, not just the boats but the hawkers also and see what comes out. For an industry that has a blatant disregard for so many legislations, it does seem to be crying poor mouth for all the wrong reasons. I mean how can the Department, DA and ANC actually classify the line fishery as  a subsistence type business. Some of these guys actually, really not maybe, turn over double the average tuna pole vessel. Yet its convenient to be labeled traditional line fishery because you pay next to nothing for levies and actually get sympathy when you cry about it. But its time to stand up and be counted for what you actually are.

Its time somebody woke up and smelt the coffee. Snoek and yellow tail are healthy vibrant resources that need to be managed outside of the traditional line fishery. One of correctly regulated will remain a healthy resource that will provide food security to many low income groups the other is a money spinner in terms of export revenue. The yellow tail targeted by the line fishery is an absolute waste of this resource ….with the exception of a few, the snoek fleet is its worst enemy. In the volumes they land the fish in a short space of time, it becomes a poor quality product resulting in poor returns and a drive to fish “quantity as opposed to quality” as the vessels are just not the suitable tools for this resource in terms of generating sufficient revenue to ensure maximum profitability or return from this resource.

It is far better left coastal communities and the tuna pole fleet to catch. Firstly the numbers locally landed by coastal communities will remain small and retain its value in the local market. Landed in the tuna pole fleet as fresh exports the value adding is substantial. Someone just has to get the imported yellow tail taxed to an extent that its landed cost stay at R30 to ensure the sustainability  of the coastal communities catching plans.

The tuna pole fleet has been trying for 8 years to get the yellow tail back as a legitimate target resource but to no avail as some incompetent idiots at Sea Fisheries actually believes all the nonsense about the line fishery being absolutely dependent on it. The tuna pole fishery gets told that historically(from blue books) they are not dependent on it. Yet the line fishery is. Its just that some of the older right holders were skimming the system and know the department wants to punish all because of the mistakes of those before, ABSOLUTE Nonsense. In all due respect, the line fishery needs to be properly investigated and the rot removed. I agree it is an employer, but at whose expense. The tuna pole fleet is suffering due to the growth of this sector. One that continues to grow regardless of current legislation in other areas. The crews on these very boats were traditionally the backbone of the tuna pole and freezer boat fleet. The tuna pole fishery is also a hand line fishery and is severely dependent on this skill. Good line fisherman  are simply the best pole fisherman. It is notable that the tuna pole fleet lost many of its top South African crews to line fishing boats in earlier years.

For all the good reasons the line fishery was split to prevent over fishing of reef species in ecologically sensitive areas. Hence we then had the traditional line fishery and the tuna pole fleet. The tuna pole fleet due to its inadequate resources, due to its loss of yellow tail and inability to have multi species or sector involvement nearly collapsed. One of the contributing factors was the constant crying of the traditional line fishery as to the effects reinstatement of yellow tail there would negatively affect itself.

Surely by this time it seems relevant to realize that the line fishery needs segregation to accommodate proper growth. Many line fishers would be better suited in a small freezer boat. ( Sounds almost like the tuna pole industry)This in terms of adherence to road ordinance and generally the nature of what they do. It may not suit the adrenalin junkies that need 400hp on a plank to feel like a man, but would definitely stimulate the struggling boat building economy and legalize many operations. The spin off is that these vessels are also suitable for tuna operations. Bear in mind that the department penalizes tuna pole operators for snoek fishing??? How dumb, they should be rewarded for there efforts to keep their business afloat when the yellow tail resource is being raped by another industry that is undeserving due to its general floating of countless legislation.

My suggestions to form part of the control of this section of the industry:

• 1.        Segregate the linefishery. All traditional type vessels to be area bound and resident resources in these areas to be for locals only as suggested or alluded to in the DA plan
• 2.        Ski boats under 6m be community bound and only for community projects
• 3.        Rationalize the snoek industry and form a sector on its own or make it subservient to the tuna pole industry ALLow tuna access with a Olympic TAC for this section of the sector.
• 4.        Effectively assist there transformation in accordance to the road ordinance Acts. Place a monitorium on all vessel upgrades over 7,5m or vessels and trailers with combined GVM of 3500kg.
• 5.        SAMSA to dictate terms of vessel building guidelines to prevent larger vessel being unsuitably built to meet the above requirements and endangering crew.
• 6.        Scrap any operation that cannot comply with road ordinance with financial assistance from the government. In so doing facilitate transition to Tuna Pole  industry.
• 7.        Properly evaluate the tuna pole industries resource needs in accordance to skills and economic viability.
• 8.        Facilitate a sector that facilitates snoek, yellowtail(reasonably capped in terms of TAC to prevent overfishing ) and tuna as these species are reliant on the same skills.
• 9.        Remove current yellowtail restrictions on tuna pole vessels outside the contiguous Zone. Implement an Olympic system TAC for yellow tail for the line fishery and tuna pole fisheries within the South African EEZ.

This may seem like the ramblings of an old man but they are actually the experience of an entrepreneur trying to abide by the law getting dead ended because some bureaucratic idiot isn’t dynamic enough to realize that the system they have is dysfunctional at so many levels that it cannot cope with the economic requirements of a modern fishing fleet that is dependent on mobility and or international markets to ensure profitability.

….Sometimes I wonder if DAFF’s ears are actually connected to there brains? In this comment I humbly apologize to the few that do go out there way to help as far as they can….

As far as the right holder being on board, it is absolute crap. It is nice to picture this in the line fishery but where the value adding is concerned, IT MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE and an unrealistic requirement for the snoek fishery that can have up to 20 consecutive fishing days without rest! The department needs to find a more realistic means of ensuring the right people get allocated rights in terms of utilization.

On a lighter note, our friend Desmond Stephens has been fired as acting DDG as of the 28th of February. It must be commented that his reign at the helm could be considered controversial and even catastrophic. Let's see who will be appointed to right this floundered ship?

Dear Editor...

I am publicizing a letter for those of particular interest who were involved with the FRAP 2013 process. This letter was written by an anonymous source and thus wasn't legible for printing by the news papers. Anyways, I thought that it has some valid points and worth a read...

Dear Editor,

I have a feeling that if I wrote this letter in my personal or professional capacity within this industry, I would open myself to some risk and perhaps even be singled out and discriminated upon in the future, so I will write it as an anonymous “right holder” of some 10 years.

With regard to all the press coverage of the FRAP 2013, I feel there is a lot unsaid.

First of all there are some very misleading facts going around, mostly from the mouth of Mr Stevens, that need to be clarified.

Of the 8 sectors issues rights on 31 December, ONLY 1 was issued exemptions for those unsuccessful rights holder applicants to continue to fish - the Linefish Sector. With particular regard to the Tuna Pole and Squid sector, many vessels are tied up while the costs keep building. For the Desmond Stevens to claim that he has relieved pressure from all of those deserving, is but one of his many dis truths over the past few weeks.   

In an interview on Carte Blanche a few weeks back, the DG also claimed that 7 out of 8 sectors had been in contact with the department and were pleased with the outcomes and process of the FRAP 2013. Let me assure you, this is blatantly untrue. Numerous letters written by numerous sectors were unanswered, and remain such, and for Desmond Stevens to claim that Derek Watts had been speaking to “the wrong people” was just another way of his shirking all his responsibilities.

As a participating right holder throughout the process and also the years building up to the process, I would also  like to express concern in the differences of definitions by the Department and Industry over the loosely defined word “industry consultation.” Yes we did sit in numerous meetings, yes we did come to many agreements and yes, a correct process and time frame was discussed and agreed upon. However, at the end of this all, the Department did exactly the opposite of what they promised, penalized entrants for the very things they had encouraged and committed to awarding points for, and never for one minute looked as though they would make a single deadline, which they didn’t. The minister herself committed to the process, including the appeals, being wrapped up well before the 2013 rights expired. Industries definition of this timeline was around November. The departments was midnight on 31 December. The effect - every vessel involved in these 8 sectors had to be docked at midnight on December 31, 2013.  I would like to understand  who benefited from this? The crews, skippers, factories and vessels certainly didn’t. I fail to see how the country benefited in so far as foreign export, trade and revenue goes. How did the department come to this decision? And why did they promise in a press release on December 30,  2103 that they would make sure no vessel was forced back to port at their account?

In all the campaigning done by Mr Stevens, he has assured the people of this country that “Paper quotas” are a thing of the past, that rights will be awarded to the genuine fisherman, that the rich white fisherman are an extinct crowd. At the end of it all, he issues rights to some companies whose members/shareholders have never seen the sea, don’t know which side of a boat is the front and think fish grow in cans. These very people, who he claims to be empowering, are forced to “work together” as he puts it , “right holders without boats must team up with non right holders with boats and make arrangements”. People who have been creating jobs , providing food stability , providing benefits for their crews and ensuring the crews have safe work places ,for 10-25 years in some cases,  are suddenly forced to “team up” with new entrants.  Is this not creating paper quotas?  

To contradict himself even more, numerous applications have been made to the department by associations and individuals to ask how people can get hold of boat owners in the case of successful applicants without boats , as well as requests  by boat owners to get names of successful applicants in order to make these “team work” arrangements. The department will not release the list as it claims it is confidential information. And in the meantime-the fisherman suffer.

Then there is the way which Mr Stevens  interprets the sectors and the way things work in practise and the allegations by Mr Stevens that the crews pay for fuel and levies. These are absolutely untrue and even offensive. If Mr Stevens is so disinterested in finding out the way the sectors actually function, why does he hold the position he does and even more so why is he allowed to communicate to the public? And if he believes that the crew does pay for the fuel, has he taken up the battle with SARS on their behalf to allow fishing operations in the Linefish sector who have petrol engines to be exempt from the Road taxes? Quite the opposite actually, the department has chosen not to support these applications for years already. If he is so worried about the cost of fuel and its implications on the crews surely he is looking to help?

In the most simple of terms, a man without a boat cannot load ten crew on the A4 piece of paper Mr Stevens has issued him and go to sea, and a man in Gauteng with fishing rights is as out of the water as fish would be there. As right holders and participants in this industry, we know what we have to do in order to tow the line with the department. Now it’s time the department started making some commitments to us that they intend keeping and stop hiding from the truth. Your FRAP process was flawed, under prepared and full of holes. You have issued many rights to the correct entities and we salute you for that. But the truth is you have gotten way too many wrong. You have done the previously disadvantaged people in the fishing communities more of a disservice than the so called “rich white” people and the loss of jobs is on you. If you had followed the processes agreed upon between industry and yourselves we would not be in this situation.

The way I see it every person reports to someone else. I hope Mr Stevens superior realises his mistakes and takes responsibility for them because it is clear he won’t.

And one last thought, fisherman have been around a lot longer than the department.. ultimately the department only exists because of the fisherman, not the other way around