What is happening at Van Der Kloof Dam by Qurban Rouhani

Introduction

The future utilisation of South Africa’s fresh water fisheries is a matter of considerable controversy. This fishery has been legislated as the exclusive preserve of the recreational angler for over 100 years to the point where catching and releasing protected fish species is now regarded as an act of conservation. But behind this lies over a century of racial discrimination which sees black fishermen and women marginalised as poachers and despoilers of the environment.

Government is, not unsurprisingly, moving to address this situation. Hence the Experimental Fishery Project at VDK.

No angler can be comfortable with the fact that this investigation includes the use of gill nets, but likewise one cannot help but applaud the fact that government is adopting a research driven approach to fresh water fishery reform.

This project has nonetheless resulted in a great deal of criticism with some recreational anglers, including flyfishers, claiming that the project poses a threat to the protected largemouth yellowfish and that it is unlawful. FOSAF, whose Yellowfish Working Group has been active in conserving yellowfish and promoting fly fishing for yellows for over 20 years invited the Project Leader to report on the project.

That report is published here with the kind permission of Qurban Rouhani and FOSAF. Rouhani Reports For the most of you, the Experimental Fishery Project currently being undertaken by Rhodes University on Vanderkloof Dam is by now a familiar topic. It has been covered and debated extensively in various fishing magazines and social media, and this is a good thing.

The participation of the public in such processes is not only welcomed but is a vital part of our democratic freedoms and our obligations to achieve a society that has equal opportunities for all of its citizens. However, these debates need to be informed by facts and as such I will be contributing to this newsletter on a regular basis to keeping readers update on progress.

There has been much concern and anguish amongst recreational anglers about the experimental fishery project – which within the historical context of the recreational fishery sector – is understandable. The experimental fishery at VDK and the processes that have driven it, should be seen as a positive step in how we democratise inland fisheries (it would be of use here to become familiar with the Draft Inland Fisheries Policy that DAFF has recently released).

The process regarding the project at VDK effectively began in 2014. For the first time in freshwater fisheries (and possibly even in marine small scale fisheries) government (lead by the Northern Cape Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development) set up a co-management process (called the Advisory Group- AG) to bring all stakeholders and role players together to develop and agree on a framework for an experimental fishery on Vanderkloof Dam. The AG has no equal, it included relevant representation from national, provincial and local government departments, civil society, the ratepayers association of VDK town, small scale fishers as well as representation from SACRAA/SASACC as well as the local angling club (and of course Rhodes University).

A broad spectrum of views, interests and needs, were all brought together at the AG. The operations and functions of the AG were not only inclusive but also transparent, in that each member of the AG freely communicated the outcomes of the process to its constituency.

iOver four years, the AG debated, negotiated and eventually adopted what is now called the Experimental Fishery Management Plan (EFMP) . This document, almost 100 pages in length, using scientific principals, outlined every step and detail on how an experimental fishery project would be carried on Vanderkloof over a period of two years. Only once the EFMP was agreed and signed off by every member on the AG (and this is an important point that recreational anglers need to bear in mind) did the permit application begin. Two permits (exemptions) were required, one from the Northern Cape Department of Environment (DENC) to conduct the overall research, and the other from the National Department o f Environmental Affairs (DEA) and this was in relations to the Largemouth yellowish (a TOPS permit). The project has acquired both of these permits and as such the research is fully compliant and legal.

It is important to point out here, that the permits/exemptions include the use of gill-nets, long lines and fyke nets. There should be no ambiguity on this. Our fishery project is open to inspection to any government body, and as an institution of higher learning we are required to comply with all regulations. The experimental fishery project has two thrusts, it has a biological component (to work out sustainable catch per unit effort, gear selectivity, size…) and the other is the socio-economic component (and I believe is the part that is widely misunderstood).

A key question of the research is not only to work out what can be sustainably caught, but whether it can be economically sustainable?

And to do this, fish need to be marketed to determine what are the market forces and how would this impact on a possible small scale fishery. So, the project does market fish locally, but this is done though the prism of an experimental fishery and not a commercial fishery. The data from the marketing of the fish is as critical to the project as is to what we catch in our nets. Only if when we have proved biological and financial viability will the experimental fishery transition to a community owned small-scale fishery. The results of the experiment fishery have always been (and will continue to be) freely available to the AG, and this means that the process to determine if the experimental fishery can become a community- based fishery will be informed by scientific data and include input from the members of the AG.

All of the fish caught in the experiment are eaten by the community and as such nothing is discarded.

In August of 2018, we began the biological and socio-economic research, and I can confirm that all of our catches are well within limits set in the EFMP, even for the largemouth yellowish. We provide regular updates to DENC, DEA and to the members of the AG, so again what we do is transparent. What is important during the next two years, is to allow the experimental fishery to run its course, allow for data to be gathered in an environment that is free and fair. Then based on sound scientific data, guide the process further. On my part, I will continue to provide regular updates.

May I also encourage readers to visit the Vanderkloof fisheries website and to download the EFMP