Diving crayfish since forever

The tradition

For as long as I can remember every November/December my father went to either Rooi Els, Pringle Bay or Hangklip to go and dive. The year I turned twelve was the first time I went diving with my father, you are only allowed to get your permit at the age of twelve, I have been in love with the sport ever since. At the age of twenty five I am proud to say that I have been diving for more years than I have not and I'm not planning on stopping any time soon.

Usually at around the 15th of November the government allocates certain amounts of crayfish to recreational and commercial fishermen. In the last four years they have been steadily reducing the amount of diveable days and therefor the amount of crayfish we can catch. The 2017/2018 diving year we got particularly nervous because they released a provisional season which brought the diveable days down from 22 the previous season to 9 this season. Luckily the diving and spearfishing community is quite active, they managed to convince the government to keep the days at 22 to everyone's relief. Unfortunately there is not a lot of hope for the next season as the stocks of crayfish keeps on diminishing.

But, onward and upwards as they say, at least we could dive and dive we did!

I could try and explain it all in my second language English but hopefully a short YouTube video will show you what we experienced.

After the dive we went to my parents' house to prepare and eat the crayfish. There are two main ways we prepare crayfish in South Africa, either we cook it or we put it on the braai (Barbecue). We usually cook it, cut it open and remove the innards. Throw it all on a plate, with a fresh salad and cut watermelon on the side you have a proper South African summer meal.

Just add a good craft beer from a strange place and you have the perfect meal. My parents went inland for a bit during the December holidays and brought a lovely beer from Clarence. Clarence is a small town approximately 1200 km from where we live and just north of the Lesotho border. It is known for its National Park with interesting sandstone mountains.

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Great post, its a shame about the crayfish stock deminishing. Lets hope they can recover, what is the main reason for the numbers dropping, is it the commercial fisherman or environmental?

It is mainly poaching, but I think the commercial fishing is also taking its toll.

Those crayfish look almost like our "bugs" in California. California spiny lobster or "bug" taste sweet than Maine lobster. Is that the case with the crayfish?

I believe they are about the same yes. The full name is West Coast Rock Lobster, they do not get as big as the bugs you guys catch. The largest one I have heard of this season was 1.2kg.

That video was super interesting.
Crayfish diving looks like it can be a lot of fun.
I'm not gonna lie, that meal is making me pretty hungry.

When I was trying to find a property to move to, I wanted to make sure it had at least a small shallow creek so I could stock it with cray fish. They are, hands down, my favorite water bug to eat!

I have been to the place where you took the pictures of the mountains.

I have not, but it would be interesting to visit.

That dive looked such fun, the food superb!

Both the Cape and Clarens are beautiful places, we really have some great adventures down here.

The only thing that could make the Cape better would be less wind ;)

I think you do enjoy yourself while diving and those food looks delicious.
Nice shot also.

@seyiodus.

I definitely do! Thanks

One of My Cousins in Cape Town worked for ( suddenly Can't remember the Name) Used to arrest Poachers , and took great delight in it! BTW Beautiful Photo's

I can imagine that it is quite a satisfying job but quite dangerous. I read that they counted 135 poachers one day at the same spot and that they often are in gangs.