Small-scale fishers (SSF) from Arniston in the Western Cape had their homes or fishing premises raided by police and local authority agencies last week after it was found that they had failed to fit their boats and vessels with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment’s now mandated vessel monitoring systems (VMS).
The fishers said there was no way they could afford these required systems, which cost about R8 000, and that this mandate was another structural barrier stopping them from accessing their fishing grounds and securing their livelihoods.
Department spokesperson Albi Modise said the VMS units assisted the department’s efforts to reduce illegal fishing and poaching by enabling them to track which vessel was finishing when and where.
It also acted as a safety device for fishers should their vessels get into distress.
Masifundise is an organisation that looks after and defends the interests of small-scale fishers. Its media and communications officer, Sibongiseni Gwebani, said, “Fishers without the VMS are often labelled as poachers or illegal fishers because they are fishing without the necessary monitoring systems.
“This poses a threat to their ability to go out and fish freely and uninhibited.”
Often struggling to meet basic needs such as putting food on the table for themselves and their families, Rovina Marthinus, a fisher from Arniston and a Coastal Links leader, said they could not afford the “fancy and expensive” VMS.
“We are not criminals, we are simply trying to put food on the table. It’s not right that we are labelled as illegal fishers or poachers just because we cannot afford VMS. We have a recognised fishing right, is that not enough to allow us to fish?” she said.