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The Great Fish River (called great to distinguish from the Namibia
Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in southern Africa on the Atlantic Ocean coast. It shares borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east, and South Africa to the south....
n Fish River
Fish River, Nambia

The Fish River is a river in Namibia. It is 650 km long, flowing from Hardap Dam near Mariental, Namibia. The flow of the river is seasonal; in winter the river can dry up completely....
) is a river running through the South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
n province of the Eastern Cape
Eastern Cape

The Eastern Cape is a Provinces of South Africa of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, as well as the eastern portion of the Cape Province....
. The river is long and flows into the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
. The river generally runs (naturally) all year round, although its headwaters rise in an arid region, and the flow could well be sluggish beyond the ebb and flow of the tidal reaches; now, water from the Orange River system can be used to keep up its flow in dry periods.






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The Great Fish River (called great to distinguish from the Namibia
Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in southern Africa on the Atlantic Ocean coast. It shares borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east, and South Africa to the south....
n Fish River
Fish River, Nambia

The Fish River is a river in Namibia. It is 650 km long, flowing from Hardap Dam near Mariental, Namibia. The flow of the river is seasonal; in winter the river can dry up completely....
) is a river running through the South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
n province of the Eastern Cape
Eastern Cape

The Eastern Cape is a Provinces of South Africa of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, as well as the eastern portion of the Cape Province....
. The river is long and flows into the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
. The river generally runs (naturally) all year round, although its headwaters rise in an arid region, and the flow could well be sluggish beyond the ebb and flow of the tidal reaches; now, water from the Orange River system can be used to keep up its flow in dry periods. The river is tidal for approximately 20 km.

History

During the 19th century, the river formed the border of the Cape Colony
Cape Colony

The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by French Revolution, so that the French revolutionaries could not take possession of...
 and was hotly contested during the Xhosa Wars
Xhosa wars

The Xhosa Wars, also known as the Kaffir Wars or Cape Frontier Wars, were a series of nine wars between the Xhosa people and European settlers from 1779 to 1879 in what is now the Eastern Cape in South Africa....
 of 1779 to 1878 between the Xhosa
Xhosa

The Xhosa people are speakers of Bantu languages living in south-east South Africa, and in the last two centuries throughout the southern and central-southern parts of the country....
 nation on the one side and the Dutch
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
 farmers and the 1820 Settlers
1820 Settlers

The 1820 Settlers were several groups or parties of white, British colonists settled by the Kingdom of Great Britain government and the Cape Colony authorities in the South African Eastern Cape in 1820....
 from England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 on the other, and in 1835, the Fingo
Fingo

Fingo may refer to:* The Fingo tribe of South Africa.* Fingo fever, a disease of Victorian Australia.* FinGO , a mobile communications company....
 tribe was permitted to settle on the river's banks. During apartheid, the lower reaches formed the western boundary of the nominally independent Ciskei
Ciskei

Ciskei was a Bantustan in the south east of South Africa. It consisted 2,970 square miles , almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province and possessing a small coastline along the shore of the Indian Ocean....
 homeland.

Economy


Orange River Project

In the 1970s, a major water project brought Orange River water, via the Fish River, for agricultural and industrial use. The tunnel for this was a major engineering undertaking, with the intake at Oviston (an acronym, in Afrikaans, for Orange-Fish Tunnel). Oviston is on the shores of the Gariep Dam
Gariep Dam

The Gariep Dam was originally called the Hendrik Verwoerd Dam after the first Prime Minister of the Republic of South Africa Hendrik Verwoerd on its commission in 1971....
.

A hydro-electric generating plant is placed at the Fish River egress, but is uneconomic and is not in use.

Mixing of waters from two watersheds is environmentally disastrous - much of the Fish River ecosystem is now taken over by Orange River flora and fauna.

Recreation

  • Despite its name, fishing that takes place along its (mainly lower) reaches is primarily recreational.
  • Annually, the Fish River Canoe Marathon, a popular canoeing event takes place over two days from Grassridge Dam to Cradock
    Cradock, Eastern Cape

    Cradock is a town of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, in the upper valley of the Great Fish River, 181 mi. by rail northeast of Port Elizabeth....
    .
  • Diving in the area of the River's mouth is quite an experience, thanks to the numerous shipwrecks which can be found: the SS Cariboo, the SS Kilbrennan and the Waterloo, to name a few.


Towns

Cradock
Cradock, Eastern Cape

Cradock is a town of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, in the upper valley of the Great Fish River, 181 mi. by rail northeast of Port Elizabeth....
 is a significant town through which the Fish River runs. The area between Port Elizabeth and the Fish River is known as the Sunshine Coast.

Great Fish Point

Great Fish Point is a lighthouse
Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or framework designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens or, in older times, from a fire and used as an aid to navigation and to Maritime pilot at sea....
 situated near the mouth of the Great Fish River, about 25 km from the coastal holiday resort of Port Alfred
Port Alfred

Port Alfred is a small town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated on the eastern seaboard of the country at the mouth of the Kowie River, almost exactly half-way between the larger cities of Port Elizabeth and East London, South Africa, 30km West of Cannon Rocks....
.

Before the lighthouse was built in 1898, two ship's lamps exhibiting fixed green lights were erected on a flagstaff at Port Alfred, but these lights later proved to be inadequate. The clockwork system which used to drive the lens is still intact and on display.

Although the lighthouse itself is only 9 meters high, it is situated 76 meters above sea level.