Bonanza for poachers?

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Richprins
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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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More locusts.


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Lisbeth
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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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“Anyone caught poaching or collecting marine life from these tidal pools will be prosecuted,”
If they get caught and with
the absence of effective policing.
it's not very likely :evil:


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Klipspringer
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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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https://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/co ... s-43443536


Concerns of KZN being stripped of mussels
NEWS / 25 FEBRUARY 2020, 3:15PM / THOBEKA NGEMA

Durban - Mussels may be a sustainable seafood source, but there are concerns of exploitation of the resource in KwaZulu-Natal.
A Facebook user posted on the KwaDukuza-Ilembe public matters and reporting group that mussels were being stripped along a beach in KwaDukuza (Stanger).

The user said a heap of mussel shells was the result of removing Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife from beaches.

“Mussels are being raped off our rocks, wonder what the politicians have to say about this,” the Facebook user said.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife said it could not respond on the issue because its contract with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries lapsed a few years ago.

Councillor Geoff Pullan said he was concerned about the number of mussels being stripped from North Coast beaches.

He said it was a major problem, but it seemed no one was willing to do anything about it.

“Most authorities have closed down and now people are grabbing mussels.

“We need to get environmentalists and enforcement agencies involved,” Pullan said.

Department spokesperson Zolile Nqayi said the limit for mussels varied according to the type of mussel.

There was no limit for white mussels (Donax serra) that commercial white mussel harvesters could take. However, recreational fishers were limited to take 50 per person per day.

“Some of the types of mussels occur in more than one province.

“Brown mussels (Perna perna) are currently harvested in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal by small-scale fishers and recreational fishers and their bag limit is 30 brown mussels per person per day,” Nqayi said.

SA Association for Marine Biological Research conservation strategist Dr Judy Mann said there were no concerns regarding mussels in KZN, but there were cases of over-exploitation.

“You need a licence and can harvest 30 mussels a person a day,” Mann said.

She said mussels were not endangered and along with oysters were on the Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative Green List.

Meanwhile, the dramatic drop in exports to China has influenced the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries to extend the West Coast rock lobster season to assist affected fishers amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The department said the outbreak had caused a drastic decline in the export price for lobster. This had led to fishers asking the department to take remedial measures to support the industry.

According to the department, 90% of rock lobster is exported to China.

Minister Barbara Creecy said they decided to extend the near-shore fishery in the Western Cape until June and the offshore and Northern Cape fisheries until September.

The Mercury


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Lisbeth
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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife said it could not respond on the issue because its contract with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries lapsed a few years ago.
I suppose that they never bothered to re-new it -O-

I hope the extended period for fishing lobsters do not overlap with the reproduction period O-/


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Richprins
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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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Meanwhile, the dramatic drop in exports to China has influenced the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries to extend the West Coast rock lobster season to assist affected fishers amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The department said the outbreak had caused a drastic decline in the export price for lobster. This had led to fishers asking the department to take remedial measures to support the industry


What utter stupidity.


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Lisbeth
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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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I am convinced that with a bit of initiative they could easily find new and different clients for their lobsters :yes:

It is much easier to ask for help instead of having to DO something about it. If a businessman loses a client, he starts right away to find a new one or two.


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Klipspringer
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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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:shock:


https://northcoastcourier.co.za/157255/ ... ocks-bare/

Image

At Eytie Point, between Zinkwazi and Nonoti villages, Nonoti residents have taken a great liking to the native mussel stocks, stripping the rocks bare of life in many places.

Poverty and the recent Covid-19 pandemic may be partially to blame, but with no conservation officers on hand to check bag limits over-exploitation of the coastline continues without restraint.

In the dune forest clearings, massive piles of mussel shells, several metres wide, and as much as half a metre deep in some places, can be found.

Three separate clearings in the dune forest illustrate similar shell-dumping sites.

Every spring low the illegal mass harvesting can be witnessed.

Spades and cane knifes are used to unselectively scrape the rocks bare, taking both small and large mussels alike.

Mussels are taken up into the dune forest in large drums and maize sacks where they are boiled over a series of fires.

Once cooked, the mussels are shucked and the shells are discarded.

The edible content is transported away from the site, and the harvesters return to the rocks for more.

Harvesters, transporters and cooks seem to work in an organised fashion.

One harvester, who refused to give her name, claimed that lockdown had left them no choice but to harvest from the ocean.

While this may be true, it does not explain the existence of much older mussel shell debris in this location long before the pandemic.

Professor Myron Peck, marine biologist at The University of Hamburg and Coordinating Editor-in-Chief of Marine Ecology Progress Series, said mussels were critical to the health of the coastline.

“Mussels are a key, habitat-forming species that build natural barriers to erosion, protect areas from flooding, and create 3-D habitat structure used by other marine animals.”

They filter the water to feed which reduces turbidity and increases water clarity.

“Mussels recruit naturally from spat (juvenile shellfish) falls produced by the local mussel beds. By maintaining mussel stocks of the present, we can ensure that future generations will continue to exist and provide these benefits to the ecosystem,” said Peck.

A harvesting licence is required to remove Brown mussels (Perna perna) off the rocks. Permit holders are restricted to 30 mussels per day.

A licence costs R94.00, available at the post office.

This would normally promote the sustainable selection of larger individuals (which have endured many reproducing seasons).

Smaller mussels would be left on the rocks, until their turn to reproduce comes around. In this way repopulation would occur.

At Eytie point this is certainly not the case.

Previously KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife were responsible for maintaining marine conservation along this stretch of coastline, until their partnership with the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) expired in 2016.

DEFF took full custodianship of the coastline but they do not appear to have the manpower to police it.

A call to DEFF to report the illegal harvesting resulted in a promise to confront the perpetrators upon the next notification they receive (the next spring low tide).

To report poaching contact Thanduxolo Ntshangase at 079 444 9951.

• The author lives in Zinkwazi and is studying for a masters degree in marine ecosystems and fisheries with the University of Hamburg.


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Richprins
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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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While this may be true, it does not explain the existence of much older mussel shell debris in this location long before the pandemic.

The whole locust chain from local to President is going to blame Covid for their wrongdoings for years to come... :evil:


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Re: Bonanza for poachers?

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A call to DEFF to report the illegal harvesting resulted in a promise to confront the perpetrators upon the next notification they receive (the next spring low tide).
When they get the next notification it will be too late. They'll have to act before not after 0*\

RP, that's what's going to happen whenever there is a chance to blame it on the COVID-19 in any camp, in any business, in any case. So practical to have a scapegoat :evil:


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