Part III – Tragedy of the Commons

In Part 3 of the history of Kalk Bay, veteran fishing rights campaigner, ANDY JOHNSTON, says the area appears to have lost its soul.

I had come to the heretical conclusion that civilization did not come from conquering the land. It was man’s response to fishing, the challenge of the water. Civilization and agriculture were both due to man’s water life.” —- Africa’s place in the emergence of civilization. Prof. R. A. Dart

The history of False Bay reveals a fascinating hotchpotch of humanity filled with unnamed local heroes and heroines – and the not so famous villains. There is much that is not commonly known. Such as the fact that Kalk Bay nearly had a third name change, to Ashton Bay, after the fisher folk’s much loved patron Colonel Henry Ashton. There is also the story of Mr Nicholls who lost his daughters at sea. He left a generous pension to the fishermen who launched their boats in an attempt to save their lives.