"The Sea Is in Our Blood" : Community and Craft in Kalk Bay, C. 1880-1939
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"THE SEA IS IN OUR BLOOD" - COMMUNITY AND CRAFT IN KALK BAY, c.1880-1939 Alan Kirkaldy Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the M.A. degree in History at the University of Cape Town. University of Cape Town November 1988 The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town for my parents and the fisherfolk of Kalk Bay "The sea is in our blood" is the expression most commonly used by members of the fishing community when referring to their right to continue living and fishing at Kalk Bay (i) ABSTRACT This thesis examines the historic right of the Kalk Bay fishermen to occupy the area and exploit the marine resources of False Bay. It attempts to provide the historical base absent from anthropological, and other, works which have focussed on the area. In recent years, the local handline fishing community has faced destruction by a complex web of political, social and economic forces. This work shows that these have simply been new challenges in a long line, albeit the most serious, faced by the fisherfolk of Kalk Bay. The study begins with an examination of human settlement, and the origins of fishing, in Kalk Bay to the late nineteenth century. This is followed by an analysis of the organisation of the local fishing industry at the close of that century. These two chapters provide the backdrop for discussion of the commercialization of the local fishing effort, between 1890 and 1913. The fourth chapter deals with the establishment of the modern fishing industry in Kalk Bay, from 1913 to 1939. The thesis concludes with a brief examination of the community to the 1980s. Major findings are that the local fishermen of today are the product of a cultural and economic tradition stretching back thousands of years. By the late nineteenth century, the rhythm of life in the area was being rapidly changed by its incorporation into the social and economic orbit of greater Cape Town. Over the main period covered by the thesis, the local fishermen, as a result of their race and class, occupied the weaker position in conflicts with local authorities, the state and capital. (ii) However, they were able to fight dependence upon a single buyer and growing pressures for their proletarianisation and managed to maintain their independence as petty-commodity producers. The independence of the fisherfolk was nevertheless maintained at the expense of increasingly depressed local markets for their fish. Since the Second World War, the escalating political, social and economic subordination of the fisherfolk has progressively threatened the existence of the handline fishing industry and the fishing community at Kalk Bay. However, should racial ideologies and commitment to monopoly capitalization of the industry be set aside by the state, the Kalk Bay fisherfolk could survive, albeit in altered and diminished circumstances. (iii) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to the Institute for Catholic Education, the Harry Oppenheimer Institute for African Studies and the Scholarships Committee of the Jock Beattie Memorial Bursary. Their financial assistance made this study possible. My supervisors, Dr. Patrick Harries and Mr. Vivian Bickford-Smith, have been a constant course of encouragement and help. Their constructive criticism and generosity with their time have been greatly appreciated. Professor Michael Whisson of the Department of Anthropology, Rhodes University, persuaded me to undertake an undergraduate research project at Kalk Bay in 1979. He subsequently assisted in this thesis by allowing me to examine his own raw data on Kalk Bay and by providing me with copies of his unpublished papers of relevance. Mrs. Audrey Lindsay and Mr. Peter Coates, amateur historians with a keen interest in Kalk Bay, provided a great deal of advice and background information in the early stages of this project. Mr. M.J. Kearney, of the Fisheries Development Corporation of South Africa, and Mr. J. Goncalves, ' of the South African Cultural History Museum, kindly produced illustrations which appear in the text. To the staff of the following institutions, I extend my sincere thanks. The South African Library; the Fisheries Development Corporation of South Africa, Head Office, Cape Town; the Cape Archives; the Land Survey Branch, (iv) Technical Management Services, Cape Town City Council; the Statistics Department, Cape Town City Council Health Department; Irvin and Johnson Ltd., Head Office, Cape Town; the South African Railways Reference Library, Johannesburg and the Standard Bank Archives, Johannesburg. In preparing the final draft, I owe thanks to David Marks, who assisted in the preparation of illustrations, and Anne Grant, who successfully transformed my "south-easterly" handwriting into typed form. Lastly, I am deeply indebted to Monsignor Charles Watkins, Fr. Chris and Mrs Maeve Race, the fisherfolk of Kalk Bay and all other informants. They accepted my intrusion into their lives and were prepared at all times to help me in my research. (v) ABBREVIATIONS C Centigrade Fr. Father (Anglican or Roman Catholic minister) ha Hectare km Kilometres lbs pounds (mass) Lt. Col. Lieutenant Colonel m Metres M.L.A. Member of the Legislative Assembly M.P. Member of Parliament S.P.C.K. Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge (vi) GLOSSARY Baleen: The large plates which hang from the roof of certain species of whales' mouths, used to sieve sea organisms on which the mammal feeds. Beach seine fishing (Trekking): In this method of fishing, a lookout (generally positioned on a high point overlooking a bay) scanned the water until he spotted the movement of a shoal of fish. Once a shoal had been sighted, he would signal to the trek team on the beach what net to use, and when to launch the boats, by means of coloured handkerchiefs or shouting. A rope, attached to one end of the seine net, was held on the beach. The boat rowed around the school of fish in a large semi-circle, paying out the net (which could be as long as 100m) as it went. After it had landed further down the beach, two teams of men brought the ropes, attached to each end of the net, closer together and pulled the net (and its catch of fish) ashore. While increasing use has been made of winches, this method is still used in False Bay. For further details, see C. 2 - 1898, pp.8 (88), 13 (153-154) H.A. Auret and 51 (578) W. Runciman and Van Sittert "Gebrei in die aambag", pp.38-40. Beam: The greatest width of a boat. Boat share (At Kalk Bay): A form of rent for using the boat's facilities which covers maintenance and, since the introduction of motorised vessels, fuel costs. Determined by an unwritten agreement between owners and crews, the fee is subtracted in cash from each man's daily earnings by the (vii) skipper. The skipper has usually been the owner, or a relative of the owner, of the boat. Bokkom: A dried massbanker or harder. Chart: A map to facilitate navigation at sea. Demersal fish: Those species found near the sea-bottom. For example, soles and hake. Flensing: The stripping of blubber from a whale. Greaves: The sediment of animal fat. Handline fishermen: Professional fishermen who use hand-held lines and hooks, as opposed to nets or other fishing methods. Inshoremen: Fishermen who exploit marine resources close to the shore, as opposed to in the deep-sea. Inshoremen generally return home after each day's fishing. Deep-sea fishermen, on the other hand, generally undertake lengthy fishing trips, and may be away from port for weeks, or even months, at a time. Jib: The foremost sail on a boat, set between the fore-masthead and bow. Long line fishing: During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, long line fishing was carried out in Europe by putting down a (viii) line, seven or eight miles in length (or even longer) upon which baited hooks had been placed at intervals. This line was released from the vessel as she sailed along, subsequently being hauled in and the fish taken. While not used in False Bay, this method of fishing (particularly for various species of tuna) forms a minor section of the modern South African fishing industry. For descriptions of long line fishing methods, and their use in South African and other waters, see R.P. 93 - 1980, pp.40 (244)-42 (247); R.P. 47 - 1972, pp.35 (295)-36(305); C. 2 - 1898, pp.57 (628-630) J.D.F. Gilchrist; Stohr "The Fisheries Development Corporation", p.272; Lees Fishing for Fortunes, pp.234-236 and A.V. Brand Fish Catching Methods of the World, pp.37-38, 40-43 and 54-55. Mootjies: Slices or fillets of fish. The term generally applied to small portions of dried snoek. For methods of preparation see MacLean "The Fishermen and fishing industry at the Cape", p.91. Pelagic fish: Those species found in the main water-mass of the sea. In other words, surface-swimming, or shoaling, fish such as pilchards and anchovies. Pulling: The nautical terms for rowing. Purse seine netting: The method was used to catch pelagic fish. In its simplest form, the net was a seine net with rings attached to the bottom, through which a rope was passed. A vessel carrying a smack searched for a shoal of fish. After the shoal had been sighted, the smack was put overboard and remained stationary with one end of the net.