WATCH: Gill netters rule the waters

POACHERS are blatantly harvesting fish by the hundreds every night in the Richards Bay harbour and sanctuary waters, while authorities allegedly either ignore the growing problem or refuse to take action.

That’s the complaint from a special group of concerned local environmentalists who bravely confront the illegal gill netters who are decimating marine species at a rapid rate.

Possibly putting their own lives at risk, the ‘Parks and Wildlife Zululand’ (PAWZ) volunteers patrol the harbour and general bay area nightly, taking it on themselves to rid the waters of poacher boats and gill nets.

Monday this week was a typical example, when a patrol at the south pier confiscated a boat with 1km of nets, from which 60 fish were released, along with a number of crabs and crayfish.

Three suspects escaped, leaving behind the boat with five oars, bitumen for repairs, a cooking pot and food – a clear indication they were ‘camping’ in preparation for the night raid.

‘We remove as much as 20km of gill nets in a month,’ said one PAWZ member, who claimed a drone flown over the New Mouth sanctuary had revealed images of 17 poacher boats ready to launch.

‘We are getting calls reporting similar commercial scale poaching activities at Mandeni, Tugela River, St Lucia and Amatikulu.

‘In some cases the volunteers were fired at by armed poachers.’

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Whose responsibility?

Previously, the poaching was monitored by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (EKZNW), often assisted by the SAPS Water Wing.

However, the local EKZN marine office was made redundant when they were replaced by staff from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (DAFF).

No patrols are now apparently being done, other than those by local citizens, and PAWZ members say they are having extreme difficulty getting police to arrest and charge poachers they have apprehended, citing procedural issues.

A number of poachers’ boats, filled with illegal gill nets, litter the Richards Bay Police Station grounds – but will not be used in evidence as no cases have been opened.

‘In fact, we were warned that if we burn boats we recover, as we often do, we will be charged with malicious damage to property.

‘Soon, there will nothing left to protect.’

According to an Ezemvelo official, fish poachers should be charged by DAFF under the Marine Living Resources Act.

However, the question remains why the poaching per se remains relatively unchallenged by a number of authorities whose areas of operation and oversight are being compromised.

‘Besides it being a criminal activity, port security is being violated and small, unlit boats in a working harbour are a huge safety risk. Bay boat anglers who fish at night are also under risk of attack or theft.

‘While all vessels at boat clubs are minutely inspected and must meet safety standards, the flimsily built poacher boats are not subject to any scrutiny by the Department of Transport,’ said the PAWZ members.

Richards Bay SAPS Communications Officer, Capt Debbie Ferreira, has pledged to bring all responsible and affected parties together shortly to devise strategies to facilitate lawful arrests and convictions.

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