Rick Crawford
I want to kick off this month’s “The Sustainable Angler” with a quick thank you to everyone who has been reading and following along! For those who may be reading The Sustainable Angler for the first time, the intent is to educate and create more awareness about the negative impacts that things like population, policy and pollution (GHG emissions and plastic), or what I call the “3 P’s” have on our fisheries.
I am really psyched to have had the opportunity to interview Tudor Caradoc-Davies who is the Editor of The Mission Fly Mag, which is a great fly fishing magazine based out of South Africa. Aside from being a reader of their publication, I am also stoked because my wife and I had the pleasure of visiting South Africa in December of 2017. South Africa is a stunningly beautiful place that is strange, but familiar at the same time. The people are friendly, the scenery is picturesque, the seafood is outstanding, as is the local wine, not to mention the abundant wildlife. I could keep going on and on about South Africa, so its probably best to turn the focus back on Tudor.
As it goes with so many things in the world of fly fishing, I was introduced to Tudor through Paul Puckett who introduced me to Andre Van Wyk who introduced me to Tudor. I truly love the interconnected and small world aspect of fly fishing, and I’d be willing to bet there are probably just two degrees of separation in most of fly fishing. In short, we are a unique breed who deliberately decrease our odds of catching fish by hucking feathers at fish, but we are usually generous people who love to connect with other anglers, go fishing and even just talk fishing, and I am grateful to have crossed paths with Tudor, and I hope you enjoy the interview!
Tell me a little bit about yourself….
I’m a freelance writer/editor (ex GQ, Best Life, Men’s Health etc), based in Cape Town South Africa. I wear a lot of editorial hats from freelance work as a booze and food writer, to being a ghostwriter working on people’s memoirs and cookbooks to being the ‘Guy Next Door’ Agony Uncle on Women’s Health magazine. My partners on The Mission are the artist Conrad Botes of Bitterkomix fame (http://bitterkomix.co.za and www.conradbotes.com) and Brendan Body of Session skateboarding magazine and The Lake magazine.
How did you get into fly fishing and starting The Mission?
My dad got me into fly fishing around the age of 12. He took me on a river that runs out of the Western Cape mountains called the Holsloot, about an hour and a half from Cape Town. I had that classic pre-teen ginger rage so spent a lot of time losing my shit over knots and slipping on rocks, but while untangling a knot (no doubt cursing the very existence of this stupid sport), my fly (a black Wooly Worm) drifted downstream and I caught my first rainbow.
Regarding starting The Mission – I had been talking to Conrad about putting together a mag. We’d both toyed with the idea for years as we were bored with the stale, instruction-focused titles available in South Africa. Then, a friend told us Brendan was also muttering about doing something. We got together, established that we had enough in common in terms of what we wanted to do, but also enough differences that we each brought something unique to the mix. So with Conrad’s art and stories, Brendan’s design and my editorial background, we felt we had the right mix to get cracking. 11 issues and a rapidly growing fan base later, it seems to be working for us.
What are some of the fish species that can be caught in South Africa?
We have your usual alien species that pop up wherever the British empire has gone before – trout, bass, carp, but plenty of other options too. On the freshwater front, the standout species are tigerfish and yellowfish (both largemouth and smallmouth). The latter are seriously beautiful, hard-fighting indigenous fish, that are well worth the visit alone for anglers thinking of coming to South Africa. On the saltwater side we have so many species, and what is available differs greatly depending on whether you are fishing estuaries, or in the surf, from the warm waters of KwaZulu-Natal up near Mozambique right around to the colder waters up the west coast of South Africa near Namibia (Nambia?). We get GTs, kob/mulloway/jewfish, bluefish, spotted grunter, leervis/Garrick, Steenbras, yellowtail aka kingies and many many more species.
I know Cape Town has recently experienced a severe drought. Can you elaborate on what has contributed to the drought, water rationing, etc?
There’s a lot of finger-pointing and blame-gaming going on. It seems to be down to several factors. For starters, climate change. This was one of if not the worst drought in recorded history in the Cape Town area. There’s not much you can do about weather other than to plan for it, which leads to the next issue – planning or lack thereof. Western Cape local government (run by South Africa’s strongest opposition party) was warned many years ago that we needed to plan for this and it appears nothing was done. Then national government (run by the ruling party) have not helped. Throw in rapid urbanization, increased agriculture (with the water abstraction that comes with it) and citizens (including myself) who just assumed there would always be water and you have the perfect cocktail for the disaster that we have had on our hands. While we have now had solid winter rains and our dams are now looking much better, there’s no guarantee that we won’t face Day Zero again if this summer is harsh and next winter sees poor rain. As a city, Capetonians adapted quickly to the crisis. We drastically cut our water consumption and adapted to what the new normal will be for the foreseeable future. Two minute showers (max) with a bucket below you to catch the water, not washing every item but re-wearing clothes, cars are left to get dusty and dirty, swimming pools are forgotten about, grey water is used to flush toilets, I drink whisky instead of water… etc. You adapt.
Two minute showers (max) with a bucket below you to catch the water, not washing every item but re-wearing clothes, cars are left to get dusty and dirty, swimming pools are forgotten about, grey water is used to flush toilets, I drink whisky instead of water… etc. You adapt.
Tudor Caradoc-Davies
What do you see as the greatest environmental threats to fisheries in South Africa and/or around the world?
Mismanagement and climate change. Climate change we will get into below, but mismanagement, especially when coupled with short term thinking, is a huge threat. In South Africa as I imagine happens elsewhere too, we have to work to convince anglers that they do not need to keep fish to prove that they can provide for their families. If they really are subsistence fishermen, then of course, that is their livelihood, but the guy who fishes on the weekend and who insists on killing everything he catches, really just doesn’t get it. Overfishing – from the massive trawlers to the entitled twit – is going to mean that there are just fewer fish with each passing decade. Even if you must keep fish, being smart about what is kept is important. In issue 7 we spoke to The Fishing Scientist JD Filmalter who broke down for us, why keeping big fish is a terrible idea. Rather take out a small fish if you must. But a big one – that’s breeding stock, with fast growing genes – the exact fish you want in the system, breeding till it dies of old age and too much sex. What a way to go.
What effects of climate change are most concerning to you?
The thing that concerns me the most is the blatant disregard for hard science, especially from politicians, many of whom come from highly developed first world countries. Names like Pruitt, Trump and McConnell spring to mind, but we have plenty in our own backyard. Claiming that you don’t believe in climate change is like saying (with a pillowcase over your head) that you don’t believe in sunsets. It’s happening and something like 97% of the world’s scientists back that up. Latching on to the odd maverick scientist who isn’t “quite sure about it” to back up your own agenda (e.g. outdated, destructive industries like coal mining and oil) sets back the entire planet and puts us all at risk. Look around in your own backyard or read the news (from multiple sources please). The Arctic is experiencing unprecedented temperatures and the ice caps are melting faster than ever before. While I’m not saying we are all going to be ruled by Kevin Costner in a sort of post-apocalyptic Water World just yet, the future is seriously scary. Weather patterns have gone haywire – mega storms, flooding, droughts, rampant wild fires from California to Sweden, Australia and Greece. Save for a plague of locusts, it’s positively Biblical. etc. Major cities like the one I live in are running out of water and futurists predict that future wars will be fought over water. This is the new normal and no amount of thoughts and prayers will fix it. We have to have qualified people in charge, not short-term populists. That means responsible politicians without corporate overlords who make intelligent, sustainable policy decisions for both their country and the planet, not just their corner of it. We’ve got to stop thinking that we should we just look after ourselves and screw the rest of the world. Our ocean plastic is your ocean plastic, because ocean currents don’t care who dropped it in the first place (a case in point being the tragedy of debris from flight MH370 which disappeared near Malaysia, washing up on South African beaches). The World Bank estimates that climate change will result in 143 million migrants. When an island nation like the Maldives slips beneath the waves (a very real possibility), other nations will have to absorb that migration. We’re all in this together.
Claiming that you don’t believe in climate change is like saying (with a pillowcase over your head) that you don’t believe in sunsets. It’s happening and something like 97% of the world’s scientists back that up.
Tudor Caradoc-Davies
Have you personally seen the negative impacts of climate change (warmer water temps, coral bleaching, etc.) in South Africa?
Our trout season gets shorter and short each season in the Western Cape as the rivers dry up sooner each year. In a way, that might have played a role in the increasing interest in fly fishing for hardy aliens like carp, because they are less sensitive to temperature fluctuation and drought. I imagine in the future, when we’re living under the reign of Emperor Elon Musk on Mars having shed Earth, I reckon carp will still be here, feeding in peace on cockroaches and radioactive cicadas. On the saltwater front, the fishing is less consistent than in the past and we are seeing more and more strange catches (e.g. the odd tropical species off the cold waters of Cape Point). We’re also becoming accustomed to finding plastic wherever we go. Old-timers will see a starker change, whereas the rest of us just accept it as normal; blissfully ignorant boiling frogs starting to get a little uncomfortable in the jacuzzi.
Old-timers will see a starker change, whereas the rest of us just accept it as normal; blissfully ignorant boiling frogs starting to get a little uncomfortable in the jacuzzi.
Tudor Caradoc-Davies
What are some of your favorite brands doing to address climate change?
Patagonia is the obvious one, both from their founder Yvon Chouinard’s plea to consume less and experience more (seductive CEO speak if ever there was one), but also how they follow through on that with their repair of existing gear and their Worn Wear range. It’s almost anti-business, which if you are a fan of their products will make you love them more and if you’re not (which is unlikely), it might just sway you. I also like Sealand Gear who upcycle old billboards, Bedouin tents and yacht sails to make camera bags and other gear. Fishpond have also come to the party with upcycled nylon in their spiffy new range of waterproof Thunderhead bags. Then there’s Costa with their Untangled Collection of sunnies made from recycled fishing nets. I’m sure there are other brands doing good things, but these are the ones who seem to have marketed that aspect well enough that it has stuck in my head.
What is something you wish other anglers knew about the impacts of climate change?
I think this is a little tricky to answer, because in my experience most fly anglers are pretty worldy, clued-up people so I’m hesitant to assume what they don’t know. However, since you asked… My wife has just finished her Masters in Environmental Communication focused on Ocean Plastics and one of the things I learnt from her over pillow talk is that no matter what we do as individuals (e.g. recycling), if there are insufficient top-down policy changes where government incentivizes/forces (carrot/stick) business to make their industries as sustainable and environmentally friendly as is humanly possible – the individual is pissing against the wind. That doesn’t mean don’t do it…er, piss against the wind or be a responsible citizen who loves and shares nature with others, recycles, etc, but ultimately the change needs to come from the industrial systems running through our societies. As individuals we can contribute through our personal actions and also the way we vote in our respective countries to change those systems for the better.
How is The Mission using its business to effect positive change?
Throughout our stories, we are not shy about referring to where we are as a planet, to talk about climate change, responsible angling, what the fishing was like in previous decades or generations compared to what it is now. The intention is not to bring everyone’s vibe down (hopefully our tone off-sets that), but more to raise a flag that all is not well with the world. Endless pictures of big fish and stoked anglers can give the reader an inaccurate view of the world we live and fish in, so we are not averse to showing a triggerfish caught off a plastic strewn beach (Djibouti Call Issue 4) or us camping on the other side of the continent in wildest Gabon (Issue 8) …amid more plastic flotsam and jetsam. Paradise is also polluted, that’s the reality.
We all practice catch and release save for the odd yellowtail (a SASSI green-listed species) that might go on the braai (BBQ). Lastly, we’re also working to shine a spotlight on the changing demographics of fly fishing, especially where we are based in South Africa where fly fishing has always been a sport for old, white men. We live in a country with a highly fractious racial past, so whenever we can run a story that shows how fly fishing is truly for everyone; men, women, black, white etc, we do so.
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I would like to thank Tudor for taking the time to do an interview, and also for putting out such a great fly fishing publication with The Mission. I particularly found Tudor’s perspective interesting because Cape Town recently experienced a severe drought with water shortages and water rationing. Water shortages are no joke because while its nice to have things like computers and all the other things we accumulate, at the end of the day, we need food, clothing and shelter, and it is pretty scary to think about not having water!
Tudor brings up another interesting point, which has become a common theme with others I have interviewed for “The Sustainable Angler” (Hilary Hutcheson, Todd Tanner and others) which is in order to make a serious impact on everything from plastic pollution to climate change, it will require change at the policy level and I absolutely agree. However, I certainly continue to do my part at the individual level, which I believe is still an important piece of the puzzle, just as one hundred pennies make a dollar. At the end of the day, consumers hold the power and if we demand products AND politicians that align with our own values we can turn the tide on plastic pollution and climate change….and the tide IS TURNING!
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for next months “The Sustainable Angler!” Also, don’t forget to check out the latest issue of The Mission!
