Captain's Log

This April is a special time for many South African’s. Family celebrations, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Ramadan. These occasions are often shared with a meal with family and friends.   Easter is widely celebrated with eating fish, and especially pickled fish.Traditionally Yellowtail and Hake are the go-to for this dish.Unfortunately, this season has shown weak yellowtail catches, mostly due to the poor weather conditions – this week has proved no different. Many people make pickled fish and give as gifts to friends and family. Our bulk hake fillet box is ideal for this.   Our tuna season is in...

Strong south-easterly winds were gusting over the Cape Peninsula last week. They are expected to continue well into this week too. We’ve had very limited safe-weather gaps to get out to sea and catch fresh fish… and catches have been sporadic. We have still had some line-caught tuna; look out for April – it’s when when tuna are in their best condition.Our iconic West Coast Rock lobster season has drawn to a close. We have a very small quota allocated to our family that we harvest by ring net pulling them by hand. This method has almost zero bycatch or damage...

A flash in the pan... Or a start to an early season?    In the more than two decades that we have been catching tuna I have not yet seen fresh tuna catches off Cape Point in February until  this year.Traditionally the second half of our tuna season starts late March / early April. Cape Point is a world-renowned tuna hotspot due to its geographical location. Warm waters spill down the east coast carrying the tuna and mix with the cold, nutrient-rich waters of the west coast - carrying the bait fish on which the tuna feed.     Pockets...

The waters are still green off Struisbaai and catches have been slow. We expect more stable weather conditions and the seas to settle which should improve this.Cape Point tuna traditionally starts appearing at the end of March - however catches of longfin tuna are happening so we are hoping for an early start to the second half of our tuna season.Sole is highly regarded by chefs for its delicate buttery texture, easy filleting and mild flavour. This gives it a lot of versatility in the kitchen. Our sole is caught by local fishermen off the coast of Mossel Bay on...

The warm waters have hit Struisbaai, and the town is alive with boats and people. Boat trailers engulf the harbour’s parking lot and crowds gather around our offloads.The 5 mile bank is where the action is happening! Situated 5 miles from the harbour this area is well known for catching yellowtail. The strong current pushes over the bank that shoots up from around 50m to 12m in places. The bank is hard rock, and bait fish look for shelter here from the open waters of struisbaai. The reef edges are patrolled by schools of yellowtail looking for their next meal,...