The origins of the present: economic conflicts in the fisheries of the South African south coast, circa 1910 to 1950

Abstract

This study investigates the historical roots of the conflict between commercial handline and inshore bottom trawl fisheries on the eastern Agulhas Bank off the southern Cape coast. It focuses on the early 20th century, particularly on the regional centre, Mossel Bay, and on Still Bay, a small town which until recently had an important handline kob fishery. The transport opportunities offered by the commercial harbour and railway line encouraged the establishment of industrialized fishing at Mossel Bay. In contrast, the Still Bay fishery originated in the river as a development of the local agricultural economy, only later pushing out to the sea. Marketing was always hampered by the remoteness and the lack of efficient transportation and refrigeration facilities. Although Mossel Bay handliners had access to ice and transportation, the marketing arrangement of the large trawl companies effectively excluded them from entering markets further afield. Monopolistic vertical integration by the country’s largest trawling company further deteriorated the situation of the independent small handliners. While government was uncomfortable with the trawling companies’ monopolistic practices, it saw the handline sector as a primitive holdover and therefore did not uphold the rights of handline fishers faced with encroachment by trawlers. The Still Bay fishery remained dependent on middlemen, limiting the profitability of the fishery. A tiny fish processing facility operated during WWII, but by and large the regional council sought to maintain the tourism-oriented image of the town. The development of both towns was strongly shaped by government policy and the development of the trawling sector. While the 20th century opened with handlining being the dominant mode of fishing, by the 1950s handline fishing was a marginal economic activity.