IN PICTURES: Claws out in Hout Bay as lobster fishers complain they haven't been paid

Holders of rights to fish west coast rock lobster staged a protest in Hout Bay harbour on Tuesday, claiming lobster processing and marketing company Inkosi Keta Marine had failed to pay them.

Protesters set fire to a small barricade to block the road leading to the offices of Inkosi Keta in Hout Bay harbour.

A large detachment of officers from the police, city law enforcement and metro police were stationed in the road leading to Hangberg, some armed with rubber-bullet shotguns.

Children threw stones at a law-enforcement vehicle from the hillside. Police officers acted as mediators between Inkosi Keta and the small group protesting in the harbour.

According to Beatrice Yon, a permit holder and member of the Hangberg community which has an agreement with Inkosi Keta Marine, 167 members of the community have not been paid what is due to them. The Hangberg rights holders demanded that Inkosi Keta pay them by Friday.

A meeting between the community rights holders and Inkosi Keta management was held at Hout Bay police station on Tuesday evening, and Yon said company managers were responsive to the community’s demands.

Permit holders are granted the right to catch a certain amount of lobster per season for sale. The Hangberg community sold these rights to Inkosi Keta, which stores and sells the catch and may also arrange boats to catch the lobster. In return, the community is guaranteed payment for the rights.

According to the latest marketing and processing agreement with Inkosi Keta Marine, which GroundUp has seen, members of the Hangberg community were allocated 51.39kg of lobster each, for which they would be paid R220/kg.

This amounts to R11,306 per person for the season, and the contract stipulates that this payment is guaranteed “regardless of what is caught”. The contract was signed on January 23.

Much of the west coast rock lobster caught using the Hangberg community’s allocations is sold for export. However, following China’s ban on live seafood, the global lobster market on which communities like Hangberg rely has been devastated.

The department of environment, forestry and fisheries, headed by minister Barbara Creecy, has already implemented measures designed to provide relief for the fishing industry, including extending the length of the season.

GroundUp contacted Inkosi Keta for comment, but had not received acknowledgment at the time of publication. This article will be updated if Inkosi Keta provides a comment.

This article was originally published by GroundUp