"Everybody needs the snoek run to make it through the year," Naaim Jacobs, a line fisherman from Lavender Hill who grew up fishing at Kalk Bay harbour, tells GroundUp.

The current lockdown regulations could leave over a thousand commercial line fisherman destitute, according to industry representatives. This is because of restrictions on the ability to fish during the annual snoek run on the West Coast, which makes up most of a line fisherman's yearly income.

Commercial line fishermen with permits are regarded as essential service workers. However, the lockdown regulations prevent them from staying overnight in any of the coastal towns.

Initially, fishermen were not allowed to travel outside their community to fish. But following pushback from those who rely on the three to four month snoek run in Lambert's Bay and surrounding coastal towns to get them through the year, the government has relented a bit, but not enough to satisfy the fishermen.

In a statement on 3 April, Environmental Affairs, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy announced while fishermen were allowed to travel to the West Coast to catch snoek, accommodation in those villages would remain closed.

"Fishermen have to concentrate on fishing in areas where they can move in and out in a single day," she said.

But with coastal fish supply becoming scarce, local line fishermen like Jacobs are becoming increasingly dependent on the West Coast snoek run to support their families.

This was not always the case, said Jacobs, adding he used to catch snoek easily just "10 minutes outside [Kalk Bay] harbour".

Jacobs blames big companies and trawlers for "causing a serious decline in resources" for the line fishermen, saying some fishermen survived on R20 000 per year and the situation was only getting worse.

The chairperson of the South African Commercial Linefish Association, Wally Croome, said at least 90% of line fishermen would be "taken out of the equation for the snoek run".

"You can't get up at 02:00, ride to Lambert's Bay, go to sea, then drive back home for four hours to Cape Town. The costs are just too much," added Croome.

This was the case for Owen Dunsdon, a line fisherman from Hermanus.

On Friday, the same day as Creecy's announcement, Dunsdon organised a trip to Lambert's Bay as he has been doing for the last 20 years. He said the police stopped him and his crew at midnight just outside the town. After showing them the correct papers and permit, they were told they could not enter until daytime, so they slept on the road 2km outside the town.

"We could fish in the day, but then were escorted out of the town by the police in the afternoon. We had to drive 600km back to Hermanus. I cannot drive 1 000km every day. I made a loss of expenses from petrol and bait," said Dunsdon.

A line fisherman from Overberg, Furdy Henn, told GroundUp: "We obviously can't ignore reasons for the lockdown", but he urged the government to try to find "practical solutions" that would secure their livelihood.

Henn said line fishermen usually make between 80 and 90% of their annual income during the snoek run. He called on the department to "designate an area on the coast, like a caravan park [for fishermen to stay overnight] and manage it accordingly".

Department spokesperson Alieya Haider said it could not respond to our questions because it was "waiting for amended regulations from the Department of Small Business Development and Department of Tourism on how to deal with those affected by the fishing industry during Covid-19 as laid out by the national Joint Operational Intelligence Structure".