On 3 March 2021 Masifundise hosted a National small-scale fishers online meeting with both coastal and inland fishing communities. This meeting created a platform for grassroot level communities to share ideas, address issues in the small-scale fishing sector as well as reaffirm solidarity and the presence of Coastal Links.
This gathering was prompted by the announcement, of the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Barbara Creecy, on the redoing of the verification process in the Western Cape. Small-scale fishers came together to share their views and challenges as a result of the inadequate implementation of the small-scale fishery policy.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to meet as a whole so that we can strategize as fishers. As inland fishers we have not been recognised neither do we have a policy yet, but it was important for us to be here so that we hear the experiences of the coast. We do not want the same mistakes to happen to us”, said Clarence Oliphant from Vanderkloof.
Fishers vowed to use March as it is Human Rights month to demonstrate, advocate and lobby for their customary fishing rights on the coast and inland traditional water bodies.