Page 119 - Bulletin 20 2016

116

At Kalk Bay what appears to have been a natural gulley, that became known as Bishop’s Pool

(named after Bishop Robert Gray who bathed there during the 1860s – 70s when holidaying
at Kalk Bay), was a popular informal pool that may conceivably also have been an old

visvywer. Like St. James pool it was formalised in 1911 when Charles McGhie was
contracted by the KB-MM. A long rectangular pool was created that one walked into over a

sloping sand beach that ran down from the rail embankment – as at St. James. In 1913 a wall
was built across this end of the pool to prevent sand from silting the pool. A diving board was

considered at the deep end but never installed. (Figs. 2.12 – 2.15.)

At Buffels Bay the construction of a small-boat slipway obliterated a fish trap there, while at

Soetwater the construction of the southern tidal pool had the same result. (Figs. 2.16 & 2.17.)

Conclusion

Kemp (2006) and (Anon 2014) summarize the current status of stone-walled fish traps:

The stone built structures in the intertidal zone, at Noorkappers point (Skulpiesbaai), some 2

km from the Stilbaai harbour, represent a legacy of the early inhabitants of the southern
Cape coast, who built and used the enclosures as tidal fish traps (now a National

Monument). For many thousands of years these people lived on this coast, but the traps are
probably not older than 2 – 3000 years, as sea levels before then were different to the

present. When the first white colonists arrived in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, the
indigenous Khoekhoen were still working the fish traps, and the new settlers quickly adopted

their ingenious techniques. Later operation of the fish traps required a permit to be obtained

from the local magistrate.

Until recently, Still Bay fishermen and farmers maintained the walls of the Noorkappers point
tidal fish traps (23 in all) to preserve them against the destructive action of the waves. Each

trap has its own folk name, such as Elmboog (Elbow) and Krom Knie (Crooked knee).
The declaration of this area as a Marine Protected Area in 2008, with the fish traps being

included in the Restricted Zone, has brought the maintenance and use of this ancient
technology to an end.

It is believed that it is of the utmost importance that a solution is found that will allow these

fish traps at Noorkappers point to continue to be preserved as an example of the oldest
working technology in Southern Africa.