EDITOR – While South Africa has a great constitution, which literally allows us to air our opinions albeit not always with fact, I wish to comment on the letter submitted by ‘Also a Fisherman‘ which was published in last week’s Sun.
While the scribe refers to the point that man has dominion over the creatures, but immediately follows up this theory by claiming that it’s obviously not for abuse shows he lacks the total understanding of why there was a public outcry, and why this matter is currently under investigation by the Department of Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF). He alludes to the fact that there is no doubt the fishermen concerned ate every morsel of their 10 mussel cracker haul. At an average of 15kg per fish at 10 fish, must we really be fooled that 150kg of fish was consumed? That would be very good going.
The simple reason for the widespread condemnation of this act of poaching is that the black mussel cracker happens to currently be on the SASSI list of threatened species, and it’s classified in the red zone. It is therefore defined as a severely threatened species.
Maturity of this species occurs at about 53cm, and at this length, it’s about 10-years-old and weight-wise, would be about five to six kilograms. Do some simple maths and you’ll find the 10 fish combined possibly have a combined age of 300 years. It is also an endemic species, found primarily between the Cape and Cape Vidal in the north. Spawning of this species occurs between May and October, so again, this haul was no doubt due to aggregation of these fish, and during aggregation, they feed more prolifically.
To put it simply, the above statistics are the reason for all the hype. In closing, the scribe needs to rethink the version that the hype is based on jealousy, as the average angler does not condone poaching.
This entire saga is about fishing in accordance with legislation which allows for the conservation of our sport, and which contributes to the continued sustainability of our sport so that our children and grandchildren will be able to still witness and possibly have the pleasure of hooking and landing one of these magnificent fish in years to come.
Commenting on outright greed does not imply jealously at all. I am sure there will be some good that comes out of this issue, in that the DAFF officials will now look at further interventions to control poaching and we shall in all probability, see a change in legislation.
GLEN JANSEN
Commodore: Warnadoone Skiboat Club
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