Shark poaching

[Zane]

Dear members,

I would be most grateful if you would be able to send me a pm if you have photos or video images of illegal shark fishing in our waters whether it be from boat or shore.

I am working with an investigative journalist to highlight the extend of illegal sharking by the foreign and domestic commercial fishing fleet, small scale line fisherman and subsistence shore fisherman in our country.

Our fantastic protective measures on Great Whites are contradicted by the absolute lack of quotas on many of our other shark species such as smooth hounds, greys, bronzies, vaalhaai , makos and others.

All info will be kept in the strictest confidence.

Regards

 

[Stapies]

I respect what you are doing. But at the same time I want you to also be careful with the approach taken. It is quite easy to make shark fishing look bad and it could cause a complete shark fishing ban.

Now I am a sport fisherman and I catch and release sharks. 99% of them goes back in the water with a tag in. There is def a lot of illegal activity going on with people killing sharks. But please don't go and cause a complete shark ban. It is a very big sport with 95% of people catching and releasing the fish.

It is mainly people struggling to get by that catch and sells sharks from the side.

All club angler and most recreational fisherman release 99% of the sharks they catch. So please approach this in the correct manner.

 

[Zane]

Hi Stapies and other forum members,

The story will aim to highlight the important role that recreational anglers play in shark conservation in South Africa.

The RecFishSA project run by SA Shark Conservancy and public awareness projects such as the Two Oceans Angling Club's Bronzie festival are tangible evidence of the commitment that recreational shark anglers have toward conserving our country's marine resources.

It must be noted that it will always be the recreational anglers and divers who are the first to notice local extinction of a species. Charismatic sharks such as Great Whites will enjoy protection due to their PR value. My concern is for lesser known species who do not capture the imagination of the public who then become vulnerable to unsustainable exploitation.

Clear examples of local extinctions include smooth hound and Vaalhaai in False Bay and Mako's and threshers in the deep. The bottom line is that sharks are not pelagic fish that can lay thousands of eggs. Sharks are slow growing, take long lengths of time to reach sexual maturity and only produce a few offspring at a time. It doesn't take a scientific degree to realize that commercial shark fishing is totally unsustainable. Even plentiful sharks such as atlantic blue sharks can be wiped out in a few short years of intensive commercial effort such as what happened in the North Atlantic.

The story will attempt to highlight success stories such as the protection of Great whites and Zambezi sharks in the Breede. It is however important to raise awareness around the fact that there is a migration form linefish to sharks and that there are opportunities for people to become very rich very quickly through illegal shark fishing.

I wish to thank the forum members for their assistance thus far.

Regards