Page 119 - KBHA BULLETIN 7
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sons still use the trekking rights; then there was Breda’s trek in front of where the Oil
Refinery would later be at Glencairn, and I believe the large white house on the
beach front there belonged to Bredas. The trek at Glencairn beach was started by a
Spaniard named Delcarme. His and other families such as Davids and Peterson, lived
on the hillside where Glencairn Heights is now situated - the Peterson’s may have
been Scandinavian. Many of the third and fourth generation Delcarme’s still have the
same features: jet black hair, sharp features, and dark complexion of their great-
granddad. Most of the younger men became fishermen at Kalk Bay. In later years the
trekking at Fish Hoek beach was moved towards the Clovelly end because it
interfered with bathing in the corner. There was also a trek at Muizenberg.
Tremendous hauls of yellowtail would be made by the trekkers at Buffels Bay. While
these fish were being hauled in the only way to inform buyers of this happening
would be by horseback. The buyers would haul these thousands of fish back by ox-
wagon for sale to the public. I was told by a very old trek skipper who operated there
that if these fish were not collected by the following day they would rot and then
long trenches would be dug on the beach in order to bury them. Also tons of
haarders, a winter fish, would sometimes be buried at Buffels Bay in this way.
Hand-line fishing at Kalk Bay and Simon’s Town became a business with people
coming with wagons and horse-carts to purchase and sell a cheap source of food to
others living on the Cape Flats. At times traders would purchase a load of dried –
salted snoek and sell or trade with farmers in the interior. By that time farmers had
been granted farming rights in the Noordhoek area and they had discovered a salt-
pan there of excellent quality. The salt was used for seasoning and salting the local
fish.
The fishing fleets increased in size as local populations increased and as the fishing
industries grew. It was believed that the Table Bay fleet was the largest one but I fail
to understand that as most of their catches were snoek – a winter fish caught at a time
of the north-westers which would have hampered operations. They also caught

