KZN fishing in serious trouble

[Weedeater]

I agree someting needs to be done in order for the Fishing in KZN to be turrned around. One of the areas that i feel that many people overlook is the overfishing that goes on. Shad season comes and it is not impossible for One fisherman to take home as many as 40 Shad a day. Law is 4 on you at any one time not 4 a day. The guys that fish for Kob and take home up to 10 fish when the Limit is 1. This is also a serious problem that needs to be overcome. We need to ask ourselves how long can we carry on rapping he sea and expect nothing to happen. Before we start to petition farmers to change their practices we need to get all fishermen o be on the same page.

Agreed. I was checking out Margate pier recently and saw an angler keeping every damn fish he caught, including a very small shad. The problem with confronting guys, esp when in groups is your risk a violent confrontation when you give them a mouthful about under-size fish being kept. Poaching of our marine resources should be heavily punished, but alas with the justice system what it is in S.A, this is unlikely. 

[iNdlovu]

Wow, a topic as important as this one and no discussion since Feb 2012  

[Gregf]

Wow, a topic as important as this one and no discussion since Feb 2012

I think Tommo said it all in the beginning sir

[iNdlovu]

Yes he did Greg, but if we don't decide on an action plan and do something we're in more trouble than we we know. Your tax problem is a result of a lot of this stuff as an example.

[hardfisher]

Good day folks, this will be my first post on your site and surely not my last. I reside in Pinetown and do all facets of angling. I have seriously concentrated my efforts on rock and surf angling over the past three years but one becomes so negative when you return outing after outing and no results. I firmly believe in catch and release but unfortunately nothing to release any more.

 Now what I wanted to say. Due to the dismal rock and surf fishing I have started taking the boat into Durban harbour. Earlier one of the members mentioned that this was the only breeding ground/nursery left on our coast. Well, sadly I have to disappoint you, I have witnessed, over my last couple of outings, how undersize fish are taken out and never returned. This place is our last hope and it is  being raped as well. Nobody has ever checked my boat when I leave the water! Something has to be done to stop this or this area will be fruitless as well.

[jball7204]

Well said hardfisher.

We fish the Bay regularly and there is a stunning variety of species to be caught. Our record is 8 species in a session, and that was last weekend! Fortunately most baitfishermen (90% of those out there) would be lucky to catch most of these, and as long as the baitfish are plentiful the gamefish won't have to eat a dead bait and end up in a boot. The Grunter and Salmon species aren't as lucky as they'll pick baits up off the bottom, and these are the fish being removed in massive numbers. I have only seen artificial lure fishermen keep 2 fish, one being a Snoek and the other a big Rock Salmon that was a PB. Both these anglers release their catches normally.

I also see more policemen in the harbour than I see anywhere else these days. So my ideas are these:

1. Dedicated strict catch and release zones. Start with Richards Bay and Durban Harbours. Let the little ones grow large and either stick around for us to continue catching or release themselves into the open ocean. There are only a few spots in Durban Harbour where you can launch a boat and there are always people present at the clubs who could police this, and about 50 cops at the public slipway that can do their part in searching boats. There are also only a few ways to drive in, and its not difficult to spot the fisherfolk and search their vehicles.

These rules can then be enforced at the open river mouths as well, starting with the Umgeni and the stretch north till the end of the swamps. Plenty breeding size gamefish and bottoms came out there this summer.

2. Outlaw keeping bottom fish and baitfish at important rocky habitats such as the area from Umhlanga Lighthouse to the pier, and also Umdloti. The inshore reefs need to be protected because no pelagic is going to visit if there is nothing for him to eat. This should apply of course to other similar specific areas up and down the coastline. Spillover from protected areas will assist the unprotected areas in becoming more productive in the long run, the same as what has happened at Cape Vidal.

3. Allow for 2 types of fishing licenses. Those fishing for consumption should pay far higher fees than those that release. Charge say R500 a year for a fisherman who is allowed to keep fish (at the unprotected areas) and R100 a year for the recreational catch and release permit. Should a catch and release permit holder be caught with fish the fine should be the balance per fish (R400) and the suspension of his license for a year. The government love money and the taxation of citizens so I'm sure somebody up there would find this favourable. Whether the money is actually put back into conservation or not is another story, but at least it would act as a deterrent to poachers and such. After all, hunting and keeping any other animal is far more pricey than driving up close an snapping a pic. The fines for fishing without a license and for not adhering to quotas should also be far more hefty.

4. Drop legal quotas. I have checked the legal quotas for every fish on the list and some of the numbers of some species are ridiculous. Some offshore species you may be lucky and find it hard work to get 2, but the legal quota is 10. That just doesn't make sense to me, that one boat is allowed 10 fish, where it would be extremely difficult for 5 boats to get 10. The balance is not right.

These ideas are not as costly as trying to resurrect dead systems, and are merely a case of adjusting the law. I'm sure a large enough concerned group with the backup of conservationists could encourage the relevant departments to secure more funding by the implementation of higher fees and fines, and conservation would benefit by default.

[Moolla]

I'm with you JBal. Perhaps we should look at drafting a request for proposals on this matter. We can collate the responses and submit to the KZN dept. Thereafter we follow up regularly to ensure some progress is made.

 There is a win win situation here and we could utilise that. I'm an attorney and I'm willing to help the cause.

[deepblu]

J ball I would gladly sign such a partition. Something that kills me each is the way the guys are raping shad I have seen countless times how guys take 3 to 4 times their quota I have phoned parks board numerous times still waiting for them to come to reported areas sad sad sad!!!!!

[Chigger]

The quota should be one (legal) fish per person per day - NO MORE! If youre unemployed and live off the sea fish every day.

[deepblu]

The quota should be one (legal) fish per person per day - NO MORE! If your unemployed and live off the sea fish every day.

Chigger what these guys do is they catching any species and bagging any size fish no matter if it's big all small. What they do is putting their catches into plastic bags and go hide them in the dunes or digging hole on the beach and hiding them only to be retrieved later or once parks board has left

[Chigger]

The quota should be one (legal) fish per person per day - NO MORE! If your unemployed and live off the sea fish every day.

Chigger what these guys do is they catching any species and bagging any size fish no matter if it's big all small. What they do is putting their catches into plastic bags and go hide them in the dunes or digging hole on the beach and hiding them only to be retrieved later or once parks board has left

"JA, well, no, fine" - you can legislate all the laws you want - Ineffective policing = effective criminals.

If they really wanted to catch them they just have to take drive up the N2 from Shellybeach to Hibberdene and every kilometre there is a "salesman" with 5 undersized shad for sale.

[jball7204]

I'm with you JBal. Perhaps we should look at drafting a request for proposals on this matter. We can collate the responses and submit to the KZN dept. Thereafter we follow up regularly to ensure some progress is made.

 There is a win win situation here and we could utilise that. I'm an attorney and I'm willing to help the cause.

Thanks Moolla,

Legislation to protect reef dwelling species and the protection of nursery areas is the most important thing for now. I believe Umdloti is close to becoming a no fishing zone in any case, which is a tad extreme and it didnt really have to come to that. Maybe we should look at starting an association to fight for clean, safe beaches, along with pushing for more stringent conservation laws, better co-operation from the Parks Board, and the protection of fisher folk.

I already know a few fellas trying to get involved.

[Gav]

Hi all, I am relatively new to the forum but have been fishing along the KZN south coast since I was a young boy. (I don't live in KZN but my grandpa used to and I visited a couple times a year for the better part of the last 25 years)

It is very sad and alarming to read this thread -- I see that the last response here was nearly 6 years ago, does anyone know the current state of this problem to date in 2020? Are things getting better at all?

[Echo7]

I highly doubt the situation has improved, Covid offered a brief respite for a few months but things are back to normal. The Garrick slaughter continues at Port St John and the poacher gill netters are hard at work in the North, coupled with a failed economy I expect things to get much worse.


But the prevailing issue is the "Tragedy of the Commons", a reference to 17th century England common grazing land which was depleted through over use. Its defined as "a situation in a shared-resource system where individual users, acting independently according to their own self-interest, behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling the shared resource through their collective action."
In other words the mindset is, if I dont catch and take this fish home, somebody else will. And that mentality will be almost impossible to break, for example when the Cod fishery in Newfoundland collapsed the fishermen switched to swordfish and tuna. Both are now under sever strain and the swordfish of the Grand Banks might never recover.
My point is, humans are insatiable to the point of self destruction.

[colin]

Echo 7   , unfortunately so true. 

[REEFMAN]

I highly doubt the situation has improved, Covid offered a brief respite for a few months but things are back to normal. The Garrick slaughter continues at Port St John and the poacher gill netters are hard at work in the North, coupled with a failed economy I expect things to get much worse.


But the prevailing issue is the "Tragedy of the Commons", a reference to 17th century England common grazing land which was depleted through over use. Its defined as "a situation in a shared-resource system where individual users, acting independently according to their own self-interest, behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling the shared resource through their collective action."
In other words the mindset is, if I dont catch and take this fish home, somebody else will. And that mentality will be almost impossible to break, for example when the Cod fishery in Newfoundland collapsed the fishermen switched to swordfish and tuna. Both are now under sever strain and the swordfish of the Grand Banks might never recover.
My point is, humans are insatiable to the point of self destruction.

Spot on! Great Post!