Site
Steenberg's Cove
Village
Steenberg's Cove

Steenberg's Cove, an unspoilt fishing village on the West Coast near Paternoster, comprises one of the 18 little bays that make up the larger bay of St Helena Bay. St Helena is home to many small-scale fishers who continue the struggle to access fishing rights, or struggle to sustain their livelihoods. The close-knit fishing community consists of third- and fourth-generation fisher families, some of whom can trace their families back to the early settlers in this region who established the Harder (mullet) net-fishing industry along these shores. The fisher families, led by local women harvest a range of inter-tidal resources along the rocks near their homes and their culture reflects their close relationship with the sea. While many of the men in the Cove have historically worked on the trawlers that off-load their fish, women provide seasonal labour, packing fish. The fisherwomen of Steenberg’s Cove are also known far and wide for their net-mending skills and teams of women continue to mend the trawl nets of the commercial trawlers by hand every season.