Spawning fish killed

The Addie received a complaint recently from a member of the public who was outraged at the site of more than 10 men who were seen fishing in a stream running from Murray Park to a dam behind Impala Platinum.

When the Addie visited the spot where the fish were caught, the 10 men were seen killing the fish with a garden fork.

It was also noted that some of the fish that were caught by hand were being cut open while still alive.

Among the intenstines taken out of the fish was what looked like eggs, leading the Addie to believe these fish were spawning.

However, the fishermen were oblivious to this and, when asked about the eggs, told the Addie they thought the presence of the eggs was due to the fish eating frogs which then laid eggs inside the fish.

The fishermen, very proud of their catch, posed for photos for the Addie.

One of these men, Tasco Mokoena, a Slovo Park resident says he is making a living by catching these fish.

He cleans the fish at the stream and at home cuts them into fillets, deep fries them and sells them at one of the local taverns.

Stoney Steenkamp, a fisherman, who regularly drives past this stream is very unhappy about people catching the spawning fish.

He believes they are illegally catching these carp.

He feels the fishing is getting out of hand and something needs to be done.

What upsets him the most is that the fish stand no chance against the violent means of catching them.

He says he has tried to reason with these fisherman, threatened them with calling the police, but the next day they were back.

Stoney explained to Tasco that most of the fish are females and it takes years for the fish to reach their current size.

He said the fishermen were amazed by these facts and said they were not aware of this.

This will, however, not prevent them from catching more fish here because they do it to make a living.

What gets to Stoney is the fact that the water used to be clean and the fishes’ spawning could be seen from the bridge.

“What a beautiful sight it was,” he says.

Another reason for concern for Stoney, is the cut-out intestines of the fish are being left on the banks of the stream and leave a stench.

Stan Madden, an environmentalist, says he is speechless about people catching spawning fish.

Looking into the legality of this fishing, the Addie contacted the Springs police and Ekurhuleni Metro.

Neither body could confirm whether these people were committing a crime, but Springs police spokesman, captain Johannes Ramphora commented “the fight are there for everyone to catch.”

Springs SPCA was also contacted and visited the area but were also unable to comment on whether these fishermen are committing an offence.

When approached by the paper, the Ekurhuleni metro referred the Addie to the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The paper awaits the department’s comment.