Angling Report

For many years rock and surf anglers, divers and deep sea fishermen have had an excellent relationship with the Ezemvelo officials that patrolled the coastline. I am not so sure that the relationship will be the same with the Department of Fishery officials that have taken over. There have already been reports of these guys being “heavy handed” and not familiar with the rules and regulations they need to enforce.
A crayfish diver in the Hibberdene area recently had a problem with these officials. The trouble started soon after he emerged from the water with a catch of seven crayfish (within the legal limit) and as he was walking to his vehicle he was stopped by the officials. They did not identify themselves and on inspecting the crayfish, they told him that his catch was over the limit. After some lengthy discussion the officials accepted that the legal limit catch of crays was eight a day and then he was asked for his licence. The diver explained that the document was in his vehicle and the officials told him that the permit had to be kept on his person. He was duly whisked off to the police station where the procedure began to charge him. This included fingerprints and a court order was served on him three and a half hours later. The crayfish were confiscated. On the Monday morning, the diver saw the prosecuting officer and the case was thrown out before being seen by the court. There were no fishery representatives present at the court and when the diver inquired about his crayfish (which would have been a court evidence), he found that the crays had disappeared.
A similar situation faced a ski-boat angler, also on the South Coast, when he beached with a perfectly legal catch of salmon or kob. The angler went through the same procedure that the diver had gone through and this case was also thrown out of court and yes, the angler’s catch also disappeared into thin air.
When I saw the minister talking in parliament he mentioned subsistence fishermen along the KZN coastline. His words were that they could now catch their fish and also sell off their surplus. The question is what defines a subsistence fisherman? The anglers that call themselves subsistence fishermen in the Durban area flout the rules and laws all the time and many of these anglers are unemployed or do not want to be employed so they use angling as a means of earning some money.
I read the article in The Courier last week about whether our coastline will be protected and I, like many others, are not too sure that this will happen.
The huge seas of last week made fishing impossible and although the swell did slowly settle as the week progressed, the surf remained rough with plenty of white water rolling over the sandbanks. These conditions are a bit unusual for this time of the year, but I think that we are becoming used to strange seasons.
It has been a difficult time for anglers recently but I am sure that the fishing conditions will soon be favourable plus the weather is slowly warming up. The good news is that there are still garrick being caught from the northern beaches and these fish will soon be migrating south so the local anglers could be in for some very nice catches of decent fish.
Sealice

Send a photo of your catch to sport@nothcoastcourier.co.za and share your success with all the ardent fishermen on the North Coast. Include the angler’s name and surname, species, weight (estimated or actual), where and when it was caught and what bait was used. Who knows, you could win our “Catch of the week”.