Gill nets killing bird life in Maidstone

Gill net poaching is but one of the many challenges our stressed rivers and estuaries face daily.

Ron and Marie Parkes’s peaceful lifestyle on the banks of Syphon dam in the old Maidstone sugar village has been tainted by daily sightings of a gill net poacher who has been stripping the dam of its fish colony for months.

“What is particularly disturbing to us is the birds getting caught in the nets are being injured or killed,” said Marie.

Ron said he has seen the poacher pull out six foot barble and he knows those go for up to R500 at Maguaveni.

“He used to come during the day but since I moaned at him he has been casting his nets after sunset and pulling them out again early in the morning,” said Ron.

Marie said the fisherman is so confident that he will not get caught that he waves at the couple when he sees them.

“He launches from the right hand side of the dam, paddles across and drops a long gill net which he ties to the little island in front of our house and stretches about 40 metres across the lake,” said Marie.

The couple said their daughter first discovered the nets six months ago when she noticed its bouys.

The little island in the dam is a great bird sanctuary.

“We have seen egrets, herons and goliath herons, spoon bill, a breeding pare of sacred ibis, plenty Egyptian geese and legawans the size of crocodiles,” said Marie.

The couples told of flocks of 50 to 80 white faced ducks that have since disappeared since the poaching began.