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One fine morning in Connecticut a friend says to his son: ”Where are you off to so early, son?” “Why trawling of course Dad, trawling! On a day like today there’s sure to be shoals of yummy ladies in scanty bikinis all over the beach!”
This was my initiation to the world of ‘trawling’.
Today however, many years later, I find myself in Gansbaai and hooked on an industry evolving around trawling and trawlers... long line trawlers, kief trawlers, bottom trawlers, steel trawlers, poacher trawlers... all kinds of fishing vessels.
Why so many types and what do they catch?
Pelagic Trawlers
Gansbaai has 7 local pelagic trawlers: Bella Prima, Berggans, Kolgans, Silver Snapper, Rietgans 2, Wildegans and Wafra.
PJ Mersma, Chief Fishery Control Officer at the Gansbaai Harbour Administration Offices, explains: “Pelagic trawlers operate near shore to mid sea and each has a quota to catch sardine, anchovy or even red eye. These trawlers normally put out to sea in one day, sometimes only hours, depending on the size of the catch.”
Quotas vary per industry or type of fish and from factory to factory and are usually determined by the findings of the research boats from Cape Town. The research boats then meet with the Permit Section on the foreshore and individual permits are awarded to the different factories who then divide their quota among the trawlers who deliver to them. On a good day a pelagic vessel may catch up to a 100 tonnes of fish. Both the sardine and the anchovy caught by our local vessels get offloaded directly into the Gansbaai factory, the sardine to be canned and the anchovy for processing into fishmeal.
Where and when to set out to sea?
“Firstly the weather has to be taken into account. Flat water is the secret,” says PJ “and secondly it depends on the moon. Ideally it has to be either full moon or a half moon. That’s when the fish gather in a spot and are not scattered all over.”
PJ who hails from Louterwater in the Eastern Cape, is a qualified attorney who obtained his LLB through UNISA and is currently busy with his LLM (Masters in Law) through the University of Stellenbosch. He was an Inspector for 10 years, first as Junior Inspector then as Senior Inspector, before becoming Chief Inspector in February last year. He has worked in Kleinmond, Mossel Bay and Port Elizabeth and is now stationed here in Gansbaai.
Who determines where the fish is?
Once at sea the skipper of the vessel is the fish finder. The size and location of the shoal is determined by computer and the trawl skipper’s course is set accordingly.
Other trawlers travel alongside the local pelagic trawlers. These are the long line, kief and bottom trawlers.
These will be introduced in the next issue of Gansbaai Courant on Thursday, 17 August 2017.
