KwaZulu-Natal - Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the SA Police Service have confiscated 28 illegal fishing boats in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, near Lake St Lucia.
Ezemvelo’s anti-poaching, unit along with the SAPS’ Richards Bay border police and the KZN Airwing, seized the boats earlier this month near the uMfolozi floodplain, where the boats were found hidden among dense vegetation.
According to Ezemvelo, the boats seized in the raid are used by poachers to enter Lake St Lucia where they gill-net fish and prawns.
Not only is the use of gill-nets illegal in estuarine systems, it also has a negative impact on the food supply in the ecosystem and legitimate subsistence fisherman in the area.
Johan Gerber, head of the anti-poaching unit, said that it took less than 20 minutes to seize all the vessels, many of which were makeshift and not safe for use.
Although no arrests took place on this occasion, Gerber said that the unit has made good progress in the battle against poaching this year, and would continue to do so by monitoring vulnerable areas in the park.
“The anti-poaching unit have arrested approximately 15 people for illegal fishing in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, and 35 in total for all poaching offences this year,” said Gerber.
“This is not the first operation and there will definitely be more in the future as we continue to focus on hot spots in the park,” he said, adding that there were future plans to work with the SAPS in similar operations.
“It is good to work with them [SAPS], they always give excellent co-operation.”
This successful clampdown on poaching in the St Lucia area followed the arrest of two poachers and the confiscation of over two kilometres of gill-nets last month. - The Mercury