Questions are being asked as to why a suspected illegal trawler found close to the shore off the Wild Coast by a fisheries patrol vessel at midday yesterday was not arrested.
Anglers and tour operators want answers after members of the Border Deepsea Angling Association (BDAA) and hoteliers tracked the fishing vessel close to shore and sounded the alarm.
BDAA environmental officer John Rance praised the department of agriculture, fisheries and forestry (Daff) for listening and responding by sending a patrol vessel to the scene, believed to be the Sarah Baartman.
“I am chuffed they responded, but no one is telling us anything at this stage,” he said. “Obviously, we are curious about what happened when inspectors checked the vessel.”
Last month three Chinese trawlers were fined almost R1-million for illegally being in South African waters with fishing gear after they were caught off Port Elizabeth. But despite numerous reports of trawlers negotiating protected marine areas off the Wild Coast, there have been no arrests in the latest incident.
Requests for information sent to Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Daff) spokeswoman Palesa Mokomele did not draw a response at the time of writing late yesterday.
However, the Daily Dispatch was sent a photograph snapped by anglers off Kob Inn yesterday, showing the Daff patrol vessel anchored next to the suspected illegal trawler close offshore.
Kob Inn horse trail guide Marion Kallerhoff said: “A rubber duck came from the coastguard boat and after it went back and forth a couple of times, the little white and blue boat went north and the coastguard vessel went back towards East London.”
Rance said members of the association had spotted the trawler off Morgan Bay at 6am moving slowly with mast lights and suspected nets on board, heading towards Kei Mouth in the Amathole marine protected area.
Morgan Bay hotelier Richard Warren-Smith wrote: “It is longer than a ski boat, much wider at the back. The lights were dangling over the back of the boat.”
Gary Thompson reported: “Got it! Blue ship, white top, wheelhouse in the centre, has red long-line buoys in front of the wheelhouse, heading towards Transkei at five knots, within 1km offshore, no name or number can be identified.”
Kallerhoff told the Dispatch: “We saw them coming past Kob Inn, first the white and blue one and then the big red coast guard. I was out riding near Shixini and I said to clients: ‘That’s very unusual. They are only 1.5km inshore.’
“The white boat and the red boat were were stationary about 500m apart. I saw a rubber duck moving between them.”
She checked with anglers who were busy having their fishing licences “checked by nature conservation”.
Marine authorities stay mum on suspicious trawler near Kobb Inn
Anglers and tour operators want answers after members of the Border Deepsea Angling Association (BDAA) and hoteliers tracked the fishing vessel close to shore and sounded the alarm.
BDAA environmental officer John Rance praised the department of agriculture, fisheries and forestry (Daff) for listening and responding by sending a patrol vessel to the scene, believed to be the Sarah Baartman.
“I am chuffed they responded, but no one is telling us anything at this stage,” he said. “Obviously, we are curious about what happened when inspectors checked the vessel.”
Last month three Chinese trawlers were fined almost R1-million for illegally being in South African waters with fishing gear after they were caught off Port Elizabeth. But despite numerous reports of trawlers negotiating protected marine areas off the Wild Coast, there have been no arrests in the latest incident.
Requests for information sent to Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Daff) spokeswoman Palesa Mokomele did not draw a response at the time of writing late yesterday.
However, the Daily Dispatch was sent a photograph snapped by anglers off Kob Inn yesterday, showing the Daff patrol vessel anchored next to the suspected illegal trawler close offshore.
Kob Inn horse trail guide Marion Kallerhoff said: “A rubber duck came from the coastguard boat and after it went back and forth a couple of times, the little white and blue boat went north and the coastguard vessel went back towards East London.”
Rance said members of the association had spotted the trawler off Morgan Bay at 6am moving slowly with mast lights and suspected nets on board, heading towards Kei Mouth in the Amathole marine protected area.
Morgan Bay hotelier Richard Warren-Smith wrote: “It is longer than a ski boat, much wider at the back. The lights were dangling over the back of the boat.”
Gary Thompson reported: “Got it! Blue ship, white top, wheelhouse in the centre, has red long-line buoys in front of the wheelhouse, heading towards Transkei at five knots, within 1km offshore, no name or number can be identified.”
Kallerhoff told the Dispatch: “We saw them coming past Kob Inn, first the white and blue one and then the big red coast guard. I was out riding near Shixini and I said to clients: ‘That’s very unusual. They are only 1.5km inshore.’
“The white boat and the red boat were were stationary about 500m apart. I saw a rubber duck moving between them.”
She checked with anglers who were busy having their fishing licences “checked by nature conservation”.
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