About 4 000 Durban fishermen have started a application process which they hope will eventually allow them to resume fishing.
|||Durban - ABOUT 4 000 fishermen crammed into the Clairwood Tamil Institute hall yesterday to start the application process which they hope will eventually allow them to resume fishing at Durban Harbour as well as its north and south piers.
The anglers arrived from all over KwaZulu-Natal and waited hours to complete the forms.
Cars lined the roadside for kilometres in every direction of Clairwood, while hundreds of eager fishermen either braved the mad scramble inside the hall or waited outside for the rush to die down.
The popular fishing spots became off-limits in 2009 when port authorities used the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, developed in response to perceived threats to ship and port facilities after the 9/11 attacks, to keep fishermen out.
The Subsistence Fishers Forum appealed against the ban with the port regulator last year and, last week, the forum announced Transnet had agreed to overturn the ban.
But yesterday’s application process was not all smooth sailing, mainly because of the large turn-out.
AK Ismail, a recreational fisherman of 30 years, said women, the unemployed and disabled were served first but there was little explanation of how the process worked. “Some people have been waiting here since 5am and nothing’s happening. It’s badly organised,” he complained.
A North Beach resident, Rajesh Maharaj, said he and his fishing club of 12 men had arrived at 10am and by 1.30pm, they were still waiting outside.
“This is badly arranged. There are no marshals, no paramedics and very few metro police,” he said. “This should have been at a stadium with much more co-ordination.”
One of the lucky few, Monica Padayachee, a recreational angler from Shallcross, had completed the form and was out by 1.30pm.
She said the applications desk could only cater for 12 people at a time.
“I’ve been fishing since I was little. I’m glad we can fish at the harbour again because it’s peaceful there,” Padayachee said.
Desmond D’Sa, spokesman for the Subsistence Fishers Forum, said they had not anticipated the number of fishermen. He said the venue was selected because the majority of fishermen who frequented the harbour were from the area.
All applicants had to complete a code of conduct in terms of which they pledged to clean up after themselves at the harbour and follow all fishing quotas. According to D’Sa the permits would be issued to all fishermen, recreational and subsistence.
“Copies of the applications will be made and the originals given to Transnet for processing. Transnet will then call people individually for photos and a screening process, after which permits will be issued,” he said.
D’Sa said he had received queries from many anglers who could not make it yesterday, adding that meetings would be organised at venues north and south of Durban in the first and second week of June where people could apply and procedures would be explained.
lauren.anthony@inl.co.za
Daily News