According to the South African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (Sassi) there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of fish and other marine creatures extracted from the seas in recent decades. Many linefish species, the most accessible of our inshore fish stocks, are overexploited or have collapsed because of illegal fishing methods and overfishing.
Globally, many fish stocks are already fully fished or overexploited.
Thousands of people in coastal communities rely on fish for survival but the coast is in crisis. Its fish stocks are declining annually, and fishers say they have been forced into catching as much as they can.
Read more:
Fishing subsidies in the W. Cape: ‘Illegal fishing is our only option’