Bonanza for poachers?

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Toko
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Bonanza for poachers?

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http://themercury.newspaperdirect.com/e ... e448//true

The Mercury Tue, 29 Mar 2016
Tony Carnie P28

Bonanza for poachers?
MARINE scientists fear that poaching and overfishing in KwaZuluNatal will rise sharply
because of the government’s abrupt decision to dump Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife as custodian
of the province’s 560km coastline and marine resources.
Responding to queries from The Mercury, the national fisheries department has confirmed
that it is cancelling Ezemvelo’s long­standing contract to monitor and patrol the KZN
coastline – but has failed to provide any reasons for the decision.

Fisheries experts say they have been told that the decision may be part of a “vote­catching
move” by senior political figures to relax fishery control regulations for the benefit of coastal
communities.
Ezemvelo, and its predecessor the Natal Parks Board, have been responsible for coastal
patrols and monitoring of the coastline for several decades.
The decision came to light after Ann McDonnell, the DA spokeswoman on KZN
environmental affairs, received information that the Ezemvelo contract was being cancelled
by the national Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. McDonnell is convinced
that the decision is motivated more by politics than sound marine science and she has
demanded answers on the rationale for the move.
Demanded
Judy Mann, conservation strategist for the SA Association for Marine and Biological
Research, said: “The implications are pretty serious. KZN probably has the best coastal
monitoring system in the country and if this now goes over to fisheries, I fear we will lose
that. Ezemvelo and its predecessors have been looking after our coast for decades and to
remove this competency is very sad.
“It seems silly to me to break down something that has worked for decades.”
An independent fisheries scientist with close insights into the latest developments said he
had been asked not to discuss the matter. “But if no one stands up to say something I fear
we are going to witness a tragedy along our coastline.”
He said the rationale for the move seemed to be “shrouded in politics”.
He had been told that a senior political figure in the national government had visited KZN
some months ago and expressed “horror” that coastal communities were subjected to
minimum fish size and bag limits by Ezemvelo officers.
He allegedly promised to deploy more lenient national government officers to the province to
allow more open access to sea fishing.
The former Natal Parks Board was responsible for shore patrols, boat inspections and other
provincial enforcement functions for several decades, but that changed in the late 1990s
when new national government responsibilities were declared under the Marine Living
Resources Act.
While the former Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and its Marine Coastal
Management division had delegated coastal monitoring in KZN to Ezemvelo, a ministerial
portfolio reshuffle in 2007 led to a further splitting of functions between the Department of
Environmental Affairs and the new Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
The scientist said that while there was “room for improvement”, Ezemvelo had a “good
system of coastal law enforcement” involving 15 coastal zones from Kosi Bay in the north to
Port Edward in the south.
If Ezemvelo now withdrew approximately 80 marine conservation staff, fisheries would have
to deploy and train an equivalent number of new staff.
“It seems ludicrous and a complete waste of money to bring in new people who will have to
be paid, trained, housed and provided with vehicles and other equipment before they can
even start doing their jobs.
The cancellation was also likely to jeopardise a decades­long marine research project
aimed at ensuring the continued health of KZN’s marine resources.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife declined to comment on a list of questions from The Mercury, stating
only that “in the event that the contract is withdrawn, Ezemvelo will not have any challenges
in redeploying the marine staff to terrestrial areas”.
Responding to similar questions, Fisheries said the Ezemvelo contract would be terminated
from July 31. On whether there had been consultations to resolve any issues of concern
with Ezemvelo, Fisheries said: “The decision is final. No attempts are being made to extend
the contract”.
The department did not respond to a request to provide full reasons for this decision.
McDonnell said: “This grab of KZN competencies by national government is shocking. Why
interfere when something is working?
“The DA in KZN is convinced this move is more to do with politics as the ANC attempts to
butter up certain sectors of the population prior to the local government elections. Certainly
it has nothing to do with marine science and best practice.”
McDonnell said she was shocked to hear that Ezemvelo officers had been accused of
behaving “unlawfully and aggressively” in carrying out their duties to protect marine
resources and prevent illegal gill net fishing.
“If there is no effective monitoring, this will mean ‘open house’ to unscrupulous fishermen
and possibly opening the door for driving on the beach once again, thus undoing years of
wonderful conservation work.
“We expect some proper answers from the department. Our marine heritage is not a pawn
for politicians to play with.”

tony.carnie@inl.co.za


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Richprins
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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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O/ O/ O/ O/ O/


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Toko
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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

Post by Toko »

Serious implications for marine conservation and protection in KwaZulu-Natal, if there is not another agency appointed to do the controls. There are rumors that SANParks could take over. -O-


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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

Post by Puff Addy »

a senior political figure in the national government had visited KZN
some months ago and expressed “horror” that coastal communities were subjected to
minimum fish size and bag limits by Ezemvelo officers
Hello, South African government?

This is the 21st century calling. Would you like to join me?

0-


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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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Snap, Puffie!

that is the scary quote!

As an aside, wonder how many Chinese vessels fish in our waters with a blind eye being turned? O-/


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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

Post by Lisbeth »

The situation is getting worse every day 0*\

This is unbelievable 0*\ What a nerve 0*\ Especially because it is so obvious why the government has chosen to take such a stupid, inconscious step 0*\

O/ O/ @#$ @#$


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Toko
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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

Post by Toko »

From Mercury today:

Cele backs dumping of Ezemvelo

DEPUTY Fisheries minister Bheki Cele has confirmed that he supports plans to dump Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife as custodians of the province’s coastline and sea fish resources.

Cele could not be reached directly yesterday to confirm whether or not hepersonally directed his department to cancel Ezemvelo’s long-standing contract to monitor and patrol KZN’s 560km coastline.

However, responding to questions via SMS, Cele said that Ezemvelo had “experienced challenges (which have been) documented in the media”.

Also, he said, “the contract had ended and was extended so there is absolutely no obligation to keep the contract going”.

The decision to cancel Ezemvelo’s contract from July 31 has sparked criticism from some fisheries scientists and other interest groups who have questioned whether there are political motives behind the new “Big Brother” approach adopted by Cele’s department to managing KZN’s marine resources.

In his SMS responses, Cele’s media spokesperson said: “The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) has a presence until Port Edward and the aim is to further extend to KZN because under Operation Phakisa, DAFF in collaboration with other security clusters look into the protection of the oceans.
“This function ideally should never be under a service provider. Actually the arrangement with Ezemvelo wasn’t correct. We should have looked at building this capacity ourselves as government.

“We will see how to incorporate/ some of the staff that worked in that space. If they were employed by Ezemvelo there should be no reason why DAFF can’t employ them,” he suggested.

The premier of KZN and the department would host a fisheries gathering on April 24 where the issue would be discussed further.

“The bottom message is that government is doing away with outsourcing and intensifying government ability of becoming a capable state,” Cele said.

Earlier this week, sources indicated that Cele visited KZN recently and expressed a desire to open up access to the province’s marine resources under Operation Phakisa (Sotho for “Hurry Up”), a presidential initiative adapted from the Malaysian government’s “Big Fast Results” economic transformation drive.

However, a fisheries scientist with insights into the latest developments has expressed concern that the department is yet to provide a detailed and cogent rationale for the decision to scrap the Ezemvelo contract.


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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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intensifying government ability of becoming a capable state
=O: =O:


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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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government is doing away with outsourcing

Really?


Exactly the opposite is happening in Kruger, for example... :-?


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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

Post by Bushcraft »

Richprins wrote:
As an aside, wonder how many Chinese vessels fish in our waters with a blind eye being turned? O-/
Correct RP \O This has been going on for years - just ask any KZN deep sea fisherman


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