Residents of the Western Cape are set to face a snoek shortage during Easter, with the small-scale fishing sector adding that ‘lower catches and smaller fishing allowances’ are behind the shortage.
These supply issues in turn drives the fish prices up, as reported by News24.
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In an interview with News24, West Coast fisherman and co-founder of Abalobi Fisheries Nico Waldeck stated that fishermen would ‘go to sea for days hoping to catch snoek’, but with little to no success.
‘A lot of people have been asking when the fish is coming, but we don’t know the answer to that,’ said Waldeck.
The Masifundise Development Trust has stated that the shortage of fish was also likely due to ‘cuts in the fishing allocations awarded to small-scale fishers’.
They also added that small-scale fishers are under pressure as a result of a decision that was made by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, regarding the Traditional Line Fish Total Allowable Efforts (TAE).
The Masifundise Development Trust has previously disagreed with the TAE regulations, calling it ‘inadequate’, according to a media statement released by the trust on 14 March 2024.
‘The TAE reductions have resulted in a significant decrease in the number of boats allocated to small-scale fishing cooperatives for line fishing compared to previous allocations,’ said the trust.
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