| Has Fish had its Chips? | |
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Being an SA Brit with friends around the world, I have eclectic interests when it comes to receiving information. One of the notifications I receive is from the Natural History Museum in London, the latest being an invite to go to a talk on disappearing fish populations, aptly titled Has Fish had its Chips? The title of the talk was clever and caught my eye. As these things do, it also set me thinking about us here in South Africa, since we have a huge coastline, are surrounded by huge oceans, and fishing is a big industry here – as are fish & seafood restaurants, particularly here in the Cape. As with Cod, the mainstay of British Fish ‘n Chips, that were once so plentiful, so with many of the fish that frequent the waters around our shores. I remember when we moved to South Africa in 1972 you could go into Goldfields and buy Kingklip. Not baby Kingklip, but a PIECE of Kingklip. I say a piece because they were huge fish that were on display. I do not think I have seen a big one like those for 20 years, maybe more. The same goes for the other fish that you used to be able to go down to the harbour and buy, or buy at your local fish market, or eat in restaurants. Steenbras, Geelbek, Red Steenbras [my favourite and one you rarely see at all these days], Yellowtail, Cape Salmon and so on. If you do see these on the menu or for sale in your local supermarket/fish outlet, they are small by comparison to former days and exorbitantly priced. Fish used to be cheap and the mainstay of many peoples’ diets – not so these days. Line fishermen still ply their trade but they are not catching so much these days either I think. Of course I am focussing on the Cape here, but this applies to other parts of South Africa, even with the smaller fish such as shad, or elf as it is known on the west coast, a really tasty smaller fish. And then there’s the Atlantic Bluefin tuna, sardines, and so on. I am sure you can name a whole lot more. I blame the loss of the larger, deep sea fish as much on the factory ships and worldwide overfishing as I do climate change and pollution. The days of the smaller fishing fleets going out have mostly passed, with quotas being given to the big companies, leaving the small fisherman out of a livelihood it seems; apart from those still doing seasonal fishing, like the Snoek fishermen here in Hout Bay. Harbours where the smaller fishing boats used to come in and sell fish are now full of boats that just ride at anchor most of the time. Just off the top of my head I can think of a few places here and in the UK that have suffered this fate - Hout Bay, Hermanus and Mossel Bay here in the Cape; Newlyn Harbour, Cornwall, England. You also have to ask yourself why it is that Taiwanese trawlers fish our waters or that the Japanese fish so far afield. Aren’t they rather a long way from home? Fishing is now mostly the province of the big companies with huge factory ships that can go out for a long time and fish deep waters, processing and flash freezing the fish in enormous quantities. Legislation always seems to come too late and protect the big companies, who are taking the most out of the sea, whilst shutting down and discriminating against the smaller fishermen, who have plied their trade the world over since time immemorial. If you go to a site like the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and look up South Africa, there are a lot of wonderful graphs, but working them out is not so easy, and there are lists of maritime legislation for South Africa on there too. Graphs and stats are wonderful things, but they do not always paint the true picture, and can be skewed. Legislation seems to take so long and then has to be policed, and not just for locals but other countries fishing within our territorial waters. I do not profess to be an expert in this area of course, but I am not blind, deaf or stupid, and I do wonder what is ultimately going to happen to the worlds’ fish populations. I say ‘world’ because, of course, fish are not limited to human made boundaries and migrate. Maybe it is time those same big companies started to invest in large scale fish farming, or fish replenishment, before they too go the way of the smaller fishermen – and before Fish really has had its Chips? What are your views? Links: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: http://www.fao.org/fishery/en
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 written by Lara , February 16, 2010
BinaryCape: I&J would probably welcome your suggestion. They are one of the few responsible fisheries in the world. See: http://www.ij.co.za/fish.
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Thank you for your comment Toni, I take your point.
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However, there is the other type of fish farming where the fish are released into the sea / wild. I know it might be a bit too altruistic to hope that large concerns like I&J etc would consider doing this but sooner or later they will run out of fish to catch if they do not do something. It should be a worldwide project I feel. Companies like this are taking fish for free and then selling it for profit, and frankly I do not care that they have invested money in huge ships or processing factories etc. The oceans and its contents belong to everyone on the planet, the way I see it. Whether it is fed to animals or humans is actually neither here nor there, in relation to the point I was trying to make. Whilst I understand your point of view regarding stopping eating fish etc., I also think that it is unrealistic to think that everyone on this planet should become a vegan. So, given that people will go on eating fish, something needs to be done to keep the oceans stocked for the world. This also might be unrealistic, but I would like to see it happen, before too many species of fish become extinct. Prehistoric man, who lived by seas and lakes, ate fish, frogs, molluscs etc., for thousands of years; developmentaly, it is probably one of the reasons that humans brains evolved the way they did. Thanks once again for reading my blog and commenting. report abuse
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Your article is great until you mention fish farming. Farming of salmon, for example, has resulted in diseased fish, MORE fishing to feed the 'stock', overcrowded conditions that deny the fish their natural behaviours just as factory farms do to land animals. Artificial colours are used to give the traditional colour, harmful chemicals are used to help prevent diseases caused by overcrowding. Millions of fish raised in close confinement, eating an unvaried artificial diet, and constantly exposed to their own wastes mean inevitable exposure to harmful chemicals. It's unhealthy and unkind. It's easier and more natural to just stop eating fish! (Note; cows actually eat most of the fish caught, so turning your back on meat will help the fish population!)
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