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Poachers nabbed with 138 crayfish

270809 AMID increased crayfish poaching along KwaZulu-Natal’s coastline, KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife officials have welcomed the slapping of a R100 000 fine or two years imprisonment on Howick crayfish poacher Paul Wilfred Ferguson. Bust for catching 47 crayfish at Hyde Park beach at Nonoti on the North Coast, nine of which were undersized, Ferguson was convicted in the Stanger Magistrate’s Court on Friday. He was convicted for not having a licence, exceeding the daily bag limit of eight crayfish and being in possession of undersized crayfish. R85 000 of his sentence was suspended for five years on condition he was not convicted of the same offence, and Ferguson walked free after paying R15 000. Welcoming Ferguson’s conviction, Ezemvelo spokesman Wayne Munger said there had been a noticeable increase in the number of crayfish offences that KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife staff were encountering. He said this was due to high prices paid for crayfish on the black market. “Hopefully the sentence that Ferguson got will serve as a wake-up call to others who are catching crays illegally,” said Munger. Munger said Ezemvelo |KZN Wildlife conducted |regular patrols along the 620km stretch of coastline from Port Edward to Kosi Bay, and prosecuted as many as 1 200 offenders of the Marine Living Resources Act every year, 20 percent of which are crayfish related. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife officer Selvan Pillay said he |had been working on a marine patrol when he and his |team noticed Ferguson diving at Hyde Park beach on Thursday. “We concealed ourselves and watched what he was doing. He left the water with a bag and hid it in the bushes,” said Pillay. “When we confronted him, he was really shocked, but there was nothing he could do,” said Pillay. “We found 47 crayfish in his bag, nine of which undersized. He acknowledged that he had broken the law.” Massive fine for poacher Howick man gets R100 000 or two years, writes Fred Kockott Above: Crayfish can be legally caught with a permit valid from March to October every year, but there is bag limit of eight a day and a size limit of 65mm, measured, as above, from between the horns at the front of the head to end of the carapace. Crayfish smaller than this must be returned to the sea. Left: Caught red-handed with this illegal crayfish catch, Paul Wilfred Ferguson from Howick was fined R100 000 in the Stanger Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

270809 AMID increased crayfish poaching along KwaZulu-Natal’s coastline, KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife officials have welcomed the slapping of a R100 000 fine or two years imprisonment on Howick crayfish poacher Paul Wilfred Ferguson. Bust for catching 47 crayfish at Hyde Park beach at Nonoti on the North Coast, nine of which were undersized, Ferguson was convicted in the Stanger Magistrate’s Court on Friday. He was convicted for not having a licence, exceeding the daily bag limit of eight crayfish and being in possession of undersized crayfish. R85 000 of his sentence was suspended for five years on condition he was not convicted of the same offence, and Ferguson walked free after paying R15 000. Welcoming Ferguson’s conviction, Ezemvelo spokesman Wayne Munger said there had been a noticeable increase in the number of crayfish offences that KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife staff were encountering. He said this was due to high prices paid for crayfish on the black market. “Hopefully the sentence that Ferguson got will serve as a wake-up call to others who are catching crays illegally,” said Munger. Munger said Ezemvelo |KZN Wildlife conducted |regular patrols along the 620km stretch of coastline from Port Edward to Kosi Bay, and prosecuted as many as 1 200 offenders of the Marine Living Resources Act every year, 20 percent of which are crayfish related. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife officer Selvan Pillay said he |had been working on a marine patrol when he and his |team noticed Ferguson diving at Hyde Park beach on Thursday. “We concealed ourselves and watched what he was doing. He left the water with a bag and hid it in the bushes,” said Pillay. “When we confronted him, he was really shocked, but there was nothing he could do,” said Pillay. “We found 47 crayfish in his bag, nine of which undersized. He acknowledged that he had broken the law.” Massive fine for poacher Howick man gets R100 000 or two years, writes Fred Kockott Above: Crayfish can be legally caught with a permit valid from March to October every year, but there is bag limit of eight a day and a size limit of 65mm, measured, as above, from between the horns at the front of the head to end of the carapace. Crayfish smaller than this must be returned to the sea. Left: Caught red-handed with this illegal crayfish catch, Paul Wilfred Ferguson from Howick was fined R100 000 in the Stanger Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

Published Apr 22, 2015

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Cape Town - Members of the City of Cape Town’s Marine and Environmental Law Enforcement Unit have arrested five alleged poachers and confiscated West Coast rock lobster valued at R6 000.

The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, said two members of the marine law enforcement unit had been conducting sea patrols along with Table Mountain National Parks staff, between Cape Point and Witsand, on Monday when they noticed suspicious activity.

“The officers spotted a boat near Olifantsbos in the Cape Point section of Table Mountain National Park and, on closer inspection, found that the occupants were fishing illegally for West Coast rock lobster,” he said in a statement on Wednesday. “Officers confiscated 138 lobsters, with an estimated street value of R6 000. They arrested the five occupants on the boat on charges of fishing in a restricted zone. The men, all residents of Ocean View, were processed at the Simon’s Town police station. Three of them have previous convictions for poaching. Their vessel was also impounded and booked in at the Stikland, Bellville South, police impound lot.

“The rock lobster season closed three weeks ago but, as this incident proves, there are those who insist on ignoring the law and plundering our marine living resources for personal gain. Our officers and other agencies involved in policing our coastal waters work very hard to try and maintain law and order, but their jobs are made all the more difficult by people like these. It concerns me that three of the suspects have previous convictions for the same offence as it simply means that the punishment meted out previously was not a sufficient deterrent,” said Smith.

Over Easter, the City’s Marine and Environmental Law Enforcement Unit teamed up with other enforcement agencies including the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the South African Police Service, and Table Mountain National Parks for an integrated operation to promote compliance with the Marine Living Resources Act and the small vessel regulations and to signal the close of the recreational rock lobster fishing season.

The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Environmental and Spatial Planning, Johan van der Merwe, said: “We checked nearly 150 vessels for seaworthiness as well as the certification of all skippers. Nearly all of the vessels were compliant - a sign that the majority of our recreational fishers respect the laws and understand the importance of responsible fishing to ensure sustainability of the very resources that provide their livelihood. It is a pity that the actions of a minority continue to taint the industry. I appeal to law-abiding fishermen to help us root out those with ill intent by blowing the whistle on their nefarious activities.”

ANA

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