#SKIPTHEKREEF

The West Coast Rock Lobster has been red-listed by Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI) and is now endangered. Crayfish is a popular dish in South Africa cuisine, but due to over-fishing and poaching, the West Coast Lobster is nearing commercial extinction, compromising this rich heritage.

I have so many fond memories, growing up, of my family heading down to the coast and spending the day throwing nets into the icy waters of the Atlantic ocean, off Kommetjie. Fishing as a past time has been passed down from generation to generation in my family, and is an incredible skill my father taught me – pity, I don’t believe in eating animals from the sea, but a skill set none-the-less. There were only a couple of weeks a year that we could fish, and boy, when those weeks came around – we spent all our spare time on the water. We’d go out so far, we couldn’t see the beach anymore. I remember my dads’ voice, over the sounds of the water lapping against the side of his rubber duck, telling us how important the rules of catching these cool crustaceans were. He taught us how to bait the nets, and to double-knot out bait bags to the cables. We would each catch our permitted ‘2’ and double check the sizes of the crayfish we had caught, and only take the biggest ones home with us. He taught us the importance of throwing back whatever we could, and only keeping what we would eat.

I’m very proud to have had these experiences – and possibly that is what has made this protection movement so important for me. My parents taught me the values of having permits, rules and regulations when it comes to certain things. And it does make me sad to think that unless we step in and make a big change, animals (and plants) in this situation may not be around for us to teach our kids & grand-kids about.

As a vegetarian though, I obviously don’t eat these strange crawlies, however, I can urge YOU to join the movement and #SkipTheKreef this year. Don’t eat it. Don’t buy it. Conservation is key.

The Social Needia fully supports the #SkipTheKreef movement, and we encourage our readers to do the same thing For more information on how to help or how get involved follow SASSI on social: Website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Follow the conversation via #SkipTheKreef.

DISCLAIMER: The image featured in this post were taken around 2006, and we, as a family, we support the movement.