Bonanza for poachers?

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Flutterby
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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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0*\ 0*\


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Richprins
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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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Tyres slashed as poaching escalates on the North Coast
Poaching at North Coast beaches falls on DEFF ears.
19 hours ago
With no proper monitoring and policing, illegal fishing and poaching has reached critical levels on the North Coast.

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The complete lack of policing of fish quotas is raising fears of depletion of fish stocks and, in one known case, aggressive competition has broken out between groups of fishermen.

In a blatant act of vandalism, a group of fisherman had their tyres slashed while out fishing on their kayaks in the early hours of Monday morning.

Eight vehicles parked at Salt Rock main beach parking lot were targeted. The owners discovered the damage after coming out of the water at around 7.30am.

Most of the vandalised vehicles were SUV’s with roof racks for their fishing kayaks. The tyres had sidewall punctures which made them irreparable.

One local fisherman who asked to remain anonymous told the Courier only the cars belonging to the fishermen were targeted.



Image

The slashed tyre of one of the eight cars that were vandalised on Monday morning at Salt Rock beach.

“I have no doubt it was a hate crime. Things in the local fishing community have been tense after an anonymous citizen made posters ‘naming and shaming’ four local fisherman who have been accused of illegal fishing and selling of fish.

“Someone obviously became frustrated with the illegal fishing and overfishing and decided to take extreme measures,” he said.

According to another local fisherman the provocative posters were placed in strategic positions along the beaches and were also shared on social media.

“This happened approximately three weeks ago after a number of beachgoers on Salt Main beach witnessed a couple of fisherman on their kayaks coming onto the shore with a large amount of garrick in their boats. Some of them have been operating with impunity for some time now and have no regard for the quotas of fish allowed. I think this may be in retaliation to the posters.”

According to witnesses there were about 16 garrick in the boats. The bag limit for garrick is two per person with a minimum length of 70cm.

“The saltwater fish species are under huge fishing pressure and many anglers ignore the catch and size limits. This has a big impact on fish stocks and populations,” he said.

The act of vandalism has left all eight men out of pocket as the tyres cannot be repaired.

“I have had to fork out R4500 for a new tyre,” said one victim.

Another fisherman who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation said the lack of policing had created a free-for-all environment.

“There is only a limited amount of fish in our oceans, and those resources are becoming depleted.”

Since Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife lost its mandate to protect KwaZulu-Natal’s marine resources at the end of July 2016, poaching and illegal fishing along the KZN coast has increased dramatically.

The decision not to renew Ezemvelo’s contract was taken by the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) in spite of its good track record and its many years of experience.

Conservation organisations have slammed the increase in illegal fishing and poaching and have accused DEFF of not monitoring the beaches as closely.

Statistics released last year by the SA Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR) on fishing in KZN paint a dismal picture. Of 1,049 fishermen who agreed to be polled, 46 percent admitted taking undersized fish, while nine percent admitted to fishing in protected areas.

The Courier approached a fisherman at Sheffield beach on Monday who was captured on camera collecting oysters and rock crabs well over the stipulated legal limit. When asked if he had a permit he and three others with him claimed not to have known that permits were necessary.


One fisherman at Tiffany’s beach said: “I fish for food for my family. I have not had a job in over a year so this is where I get a lot of our food. I don’t bother about size and bag limits as it means we will go hungry.”

Illegal fishing activity underway at Sheffield beach this week.

Dolphin Coast Conservancy chairperson, Di Jones, said the situation had become critical as there was no authority to step up and take responsibility for monitoring and compliance to ensure the sustainable use of these resources.

“Since the role of monitoring and compliance of our coastal resources was taken away from Ezemvelo, we have seen an increase in what would previously have been punishable behaviour becoming the norm, with no recourse for unethical and unsustainable practices. Unfortunately, this has even rolled out to some restaurants in our area, which are illegally buying product off individuals and teams of fishermen,” said Jones.

“A very fine balance is required for our marine resources to be sustainable into the future. Unless a solution is found very quickly to replace those duties previously tasked to Ezemvelo, who used to do such a good job on our shores, this balance is going to tip the wrong way very shortly,” said Jones.

Despite numerous attempts, DEFF had not responded to our request for comment at the time of going to press.

https://northcoastcourier.co.za/140940/ ... deff-ears/


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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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Since Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife lost its mandate to protect KwaZulu-Natal’s marine resources at the end of July 2016, poaching and illegal fishing along the KZN coast has increased dramatically.

The decision not to renew Ezemvelo’s contract was taken by the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) in spite of its good track record and its many years of experience.

Conservation organisations have slammed the increase in illegal fishing and poaching and have accused DEFF of not monitoring the beaches as closely.
Lack of control is a huge problem in South Africa and has serious consequences O/
Lisbeth wrote: Wed Mar 30, 2016 7:47 pm
intensifying government ability of becoming a capable state
=O: =O:
O**


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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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The contract was ended Mar 29, 2016 and since then there has been no control 0- 0-


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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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https://www.iol.co.za/ios/news/shad-sea ... 2-35292432

Shad season a Catch-22
NEWS / 24 OCTOBER 2019, 5:45PM / DUNCAN GUY


Durban - Reduced law enforcement against illegal shad fishing has led to a “massive escalation” in poaching.
Bruce Mann, a senior scientist at the Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI), said this kicked in when the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Daff) took over policing catches from Ezemvelo in 2016 “for political reasons”.


“The number of fish inspectors has been reduced from 80 to 10 or 15. There is no way Daff could do what was done by 80 people, plus they don’t have the knowledge, are used on a rotation basis, and cannot always see cases through.”

This month and next form the closed season for shad, to give them a breather to breed while they carry eggs.

To many fishermen, the closed season, colloquially called “the shad ban”, is an attractive time to fish.

Because their time in KwaZulu- Natal waters is their breeding season, they may not be sold commercially as they may in the Western and Eastern Cape.

“The rationale is that shad come here to breed. If we allowed commercial catches, it would wipe out the spawning stock,” said Mann.

He added that shad were an easy catch because they concentrate along the coast, hunt in shoals and take any bait.

Unemployed Yugen Pillay, 24, from Phoenix, waiting to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on a charge of illegal fishing and showing the Independent on Saturday his summons earlier this week, explained the logic of shad fishing in October and November. “You get bigger shad in the banned season.

“They come into shore from the sea to give birth. That’s why they are big.”

Asked whether that would not lead to there one day being no shad left, he replied: “I don’t know. They still catch them. Some people sell them, most people eat them.”

An investigating officer with Daff, who could not be named because of the sensitivity of his job, told the Independent on Saturday that high numbers of shad catches during the closed season were the work of unscrupulous fishermen “with no regard for conservation”.

“There is organised crime involved. They are well organised, fishing at night, knowing inspectors are not on duty for 24 hours.

“They pay fines of about R500 and we end up arresting the same people again and again,” he said.

Any peace officers - including the SAPS and metro police - have powers to arrest shad poachers.

The officer added that while there was a problem of shad fishing during the closed season, the high level of unemployment had put pressure on people to harvest the ocean to put food on their tables.

“These days you see lots of people fishing on the beachfront piers in the middle of the day.

“It’s not really as much about the poaching of shad as it is about human survival,” he said, adding that it was “a political thing”.

Mann explained that the closed season on shad had been carefully negotiated with fishermen and taken into consideration how many each fisher’s permits allows them to catch - a maximum of four a day; the size - minimum 30cm, and a closed season as short as two months.

It was based on the research of a PhD project on shad by Anesh Govender, now in Oman, he added.

He said the ban was in synchronisation with the life cycle of shad, which migrate to KZN waters to breed.

Back at the Durban Magistrate’s Court, Pillay claimed he had been arrested simply for being on board a boat in the harbour from which others had been fishing.

“I don’t even eat fish,” he said. “I’m allergic to sea food.”

The marine anti-poaching hotline is 083 380 6298.
The Independent on Saturday


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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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Asked whether that would not lead to there one day being no shad left, he replied: “I don’t know. They still catch them. Some people sell them, most people eat them.”
Ignorance 0*\
“It’s not really as much about the poaching of shad as it is about human survival,” he said, adding that it was “a political thing”.
Of course it's about poaching! Can't they fish something else -O-


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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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It's about politics, and the same in the Cape provinces. "Disadvantaged" fishermen must be "advantaged'. When there is nothing left it does not matter, as votes have been gained, briefly. :evil:


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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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Again this short term thinking O/


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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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Richprins wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 6:01 pm It's about politics, and the same in the Cape provinces. "Disadvantaged" fishermen must be "advantaged'. When there is nothing left it does not matter, as votes have been gained, briefly. :evil:
The Idiot factor knows no Boundaries


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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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https://northcoastcourier.co.za/147675/ ... dal-pools/

Stop raping our tidal pools

It was said that parrot fish have been systematically disappearing from the tidal pools and some of the area’s once thriving tidal pools had become barren aquatic deserts, depleted of fish and live coral.
5 hours ago

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The poaching of the resident parrot fish at Thompson’s Bay tidal pool on Saturday night has sparked widespread outrage.

Glenda Thompson was infuriated when she made the gruesome discovery on Sunday morning.

“We arrived to see bait, hooks and pieces of these once beautiful, graceful creatures littered on the side of the pool,” said Thompson.

The incident has highlighted the plight of Ballito’s tidal pools, under attack from poachers operating indiscriminately along the Dolphin Coast in the absence of effective policing.

While the seawater pools dotted along Ballito’s coast serve as sanctuaries for numerous sea creatures, which use the calm waters and the side walls and rocks for breeding and shelter, illegal poaching and fishing have increased substantially following the removal of Ezemvelo staff from the coast in 2016.

The decision not to renew Ezemvelo’s contract was taken by the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) in spite of its good track record and years of experience.

For close to 32 years, well-trained Ezemvelo officials were responsible for maintaining wildlife conservation areas and biodiversity in KZN.

Dolphin Coast conservancy chairman, Di Jones said she was appalled by the incident and said it was critical for the community to find effective ways of fighting the illegal poaching of sea life.

She said parrot fish have been systematically disappearing from the tidal pools and some of the area’s once thriving tidal pools had become barren aquatic deserts, depleted of fish and live coral.




“This is no better than canned lion hunting – the poor fish do not stand a chance! Our marine life is under threat from poaching. While we realise that there are people who make a living from the sea, the wanton pillaging cannot be allowed to go unchecked,” said Jones.

Tidal Tao’s Duncan Pritchard, a local expert on marine conservation, said parrot fish were inactive at night.

“They wrap themselves in a mucus cocoon and sleep, so someone must have gone into the water and caught or speared them. You can literally touch them at night when they are sleeping,” he said.

Parrot fish eat algae and dead coral.

These herbivores spend up to 90 percent of their day nibbling.

They perform vital ecosystem services like grazing algae off coral.

According to a National Geographic study, reefs where parrot fish were abundant in the 1980s are the reefs that are healthy today.

KDM marine safety manager Steve Honeysett said Thompson’s Bay, Chaka’s Rock and Salt Rock’s tidal pools were marine protected areas and no aquatic wildlife was allowed to be collected from them.

“Anyone caught poaching or collecting marine life from these tidal pools will be prosecuted,” he said.


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