War ‘weighed’ on rogue fishermen
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife welcomes whistle-blowers and appeals to anyone witnessing illegal fishing to contact them.
ENVIRONMENTALISTS and “legal” fishermen fear that rivers and marine estuaries in the Umdoni area could soon be totally barren.
They say rivers like the Mpambanyoni were once teeming with fish, but they are now being plundered by unlicensed fishermen who have a total disregard for size and bag limits.
Police merely turn a blind eye, but Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife assures that they are working flat out to combat the situation.
A volunteer officer said: “We are aware of the problem, but we have a large area to cover. We can’t be everywhere at once.”
But they were doing their best and had in fact confiscated a 50-m gill net from people fishing in the Umkomaas River last week and another just two days later.
Officers had made many arrests and stiff fines had been imposed.
Concerned fisherman Stephen Bell said that 20 years ago, the rivers were full of many species like mullet, perch, stumpnose, springer and grunter. “Now fishing in the rivers is dead. Why?”
An insider told the Mail that bad farming practices upriver contributed to the silting up of the rivers and chemicals, herbicides and other pollutants affect the fish population.
Mr Bell said that he and other enthusiasts bought licences every year as responsible sportsmen.
“Then, every time we go fishing, we see others who keep everything they catch, no matter what the size.
“I have seen guys taking more than 20 fish that were way under size. They throw cast nets too and keep everything. When I approached one of these fishermen I was called a racist and threatened.
“I have even seen police parked nearby watching them fish and doing nothing about it,” said Mr Bell. “I did call the police once and was told it was not their problem. They said I should call the Parks Board.”
Mr Bell said he understood that many of these illegal fishermen were unemployed and poor, but that it was short-sighted to allow entire eco-systems in rivers to be destroyed.
“In another 10 years there will be serious consequences if nothing is done about it.”
A Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife spokesmen said they welcomed whistle-blowers and appealed to anyone witnessing illegal fishing to phone Sam Ndlovu at 082 5592843 or the 24-hour anti-poaching hotline at 083 3806298.
All information will be kept confidential.
