By Alberto Mavume, Mozambique
This story takes place within the Incomáti Estuary, located in the Southeastern part of Africa, north of Maputo Bay, Mozambique. The area comprises the downstream part of the Incomati River that rises in South Africa, and then flows through South Africa, Eswatini and Mozambique to reach the Indian Ocean in Maputo Bay. It was a sunny and calm day, which favored the navigation across the river and within the estuary.
We were 4 young researchers at that time and traveling on a medium-sized motorboat, piloted by a young sailor. We were all wearing life vests except for the pilot, excited by the roar produced by the boat as it increased the speed. We entered through the mouth of the Incomati River and sailed towards the mainland in the estuary. Meanwhile, we prepared the equipment to start with in-situ measurements. The in-situ measurements were successfully conducted, along predefined stations across the river and within the estuary. Later we decided to plan for continuous measurements for the current meter (to last about two weeks).
While discussing how we would proceed, we consulted the tide predictions to get guidance about incoming high water and low water in the area. During this, an elderly and very curious man who was passing nearby, politely wanted to know what we were doing there. We explained the plan we had to return to the site the next day, to perform the deployment and mooring operations of the current meter because at that time the level of water was not enough.
Despite being informed that high tide will be around 11.30 am the following day, the elderly fisherman addressed us loudly but politely, saying… “my kids!…”, while following our conversation as experts, … “the time you are proposing will be too late and the site you choose does not seem adequate. I suggest you come around, 8-9 am and right now come along to see what I think could be the best site for you.” Someone from the group was behaving somewhat badly …” who does this elderly fisherman think he is…to just come here and teach us about the work? Just go fishing and go back home, old man!…” Our colleague reacted once again. The elderly fisherman responded saying… “Yes, I’m an elderly fisherman, I go fishing out in the open sea and return home, but I’m not stupid! While you live in closed masonry houses, I sleep in a reed house that lets in the sun, rain and wind, but at least allows me to see the moon, which guides me to find out the best time to fish”.
Meanwhile, the arrogant colleague insisted saying… “hi elderly fisherman, get out of here… I told you”. Someone in the group said, “calm down guys, let’s try to understand what the elderly fisherman meant by what he said. We can negotiate with him to look after the equipment tomorrow and as long as it will remain in this place for two weeks, we need someone to keep an eye on it. We all agreed that we would return around 8am to be ready for the operations in the new site as proposed by the elderly fisherman.
In fact, we had a good level of water at the new site as was expected. As a result, we managed to perform the necessary deployment and all mooring operations for the current meter including the buoy system and anchor, to ensure it would maintain its position for the time horizon defined of roughly two weeks. On the other hand, as we stayed on the site for a couple of hours, we witnessed that the water level at 11.30 had already started to flow seaward (ebb time). The fisherman explained that he usually makes use of the moon cycle (astronomy) as a time-control, to understand seasonal changes, the availability of food sources, directions and tidal forecasts.
I tell this story not just to inform you about the field measurements recorded from the instruments. This is to open a debate about local knowledge and experiences, which should not just be ignored while conducting research or other activities which potentially require interaction with others in a community environment. In fact, for our planned activities in the Incomati River we got information with predictions for the tide times but these were not enough to explain the lag differences during ebb and flood time required to make the best decision and set up the instruments.
Given the evidence, all members of the group agreed that we should acknowledge the elderly fisherman and have lunch with him to hear more about his life as a fisherman and other experiences in his daily life. During this period of time, the fisherman decided to tell us about his life and experiences – both on the sea and on land. He demanded us all to listen carefully whilst he told his story.
“…My family and I live in a modest house made of fragile material basically reeds from cane with a wide space in between for the wind to pass through which makes all of us exposed and highly vulnerable to natural shocks. We are very poor and highly dependent on agricultural and fishing practices. My wife does agriculture and I go around to fish at sea every day to provide food for the entire family and support fees for the kids to go to school.”
“…Notwithstanding, this hard life forced us to become familiar with the phases of the moon, the tides, the seasons, the phases of fish life, the wind and the rainy season that occur repeatedly.”
The positive part of all this is the guidance that the fisherman gains both at sea and on land which allows him to know and practice when and how to descend to the sea and farm to work for his family’s survival. The start of the rainy season indicates good prospects for crops making agriculture the second source of survival for the family. Nevertheless, some agriculture areas are becoming less productive in the area, due to salt intrusion, caused by coastal flooding, particularly during astronomical high tide accompanied with strong onshore winds. The ocean water mixes with freshwater from the river causing the intrusion which affects farmland in the surroundings. The fisherman’s family and others still believe and hope that the situation will change and improve in the near future since the main district close to the Incomati River was recently given the category of municipality.
Finally, we all agreed that this was an exciting and excellent moment of social interaction and traditional knowledge. A great learning experience and a lesson about respect and consideration!
“Journeys to the Sea” is a new series of inspiring stories that highlight the personal connections of marine professionals with the ocean. As a follow up to World Oceans Day on June 8th, WIOMSA is excited to launch a three-month-long celebration dedicated to the ocean. The series will feature 34 unique stories from across the Western Indian Ocean region. These stories will share firsthand accounts of ocean-related experiences, reflections, and narratives from participants who have been part of the Sida-funded International Training Programme on marine spatial planning, “Planning for a Sustainable Blue Future in the Western Indian Ocean”. The stories have been part of the Ocean Storytelling component of the workshop, led by Dr Mia Strand, Nelson Mandela University. Read the collection of stories here.
Feature photo: Incomati River Basin © Unsplash
