'White gold' industry back out on the ocean

[caption id="attachment_39014" align="alignright" width="405"] READY TO GO: With the chokka fishing season having opened, crew and fishermen Lucas Ndidalelwa, left, and Paulos Ndanapo, who work off the boat Cape Natal, are hoping for a great season. Picture: MIKE HOLMES[/caption]

THE Eastern Cape's multimillion- rand chokka fishing season reopened yesterday.

This follows a three-month, industry-imposed cessation to replenish the chokka – also known as squid – in Eastern Cape waters.

The three-month halt was introduced after 18 months of low chokka catches.

"All the boats have gone out," SA Squid Management Industrial Association (Sasmia) chairman Dino Moodaley said.

Moodaley is also a director of Port Elizabeth harbour-based Talhado Fishing Enterprises.

He said past low chokka yields could not be attributed only to overfishing in the heavily regulated industry, but rather to natural reasons such as climate change. - Shaun Gillham