The mystery over who owns the three Chinese trawlers moored in the East London harbour accused of illegal fishing off the Eastern Cape deepened yesterday.
Officials involved in the investigation into the Fu Yuan Yu 7880, Fu Yuang Yu 7881 and Run Da 617, which flies the Chinese flag, refused to comment on the vessels’ ownership.
The captains of each appeared in the East London Magistrate’s Court this week and have been confined to their vessels by a court order. They are due back in court on June 15.
The remaining 93 crew are free, said Hawks spokeswoman Captain Anelise Feni. “The identity of the owners is known. No information will be released as this stage.”
Dino Moodley, chairman of the South African squid management industrial association, said they had tried to identify the owners of the company from marine websites but could not find them. However, a Saturday Dispatch internet search yesterday revealed a number of scathing reports about the fishing methods of a “Fu Yuan Yu” owned fishing fleet plundering sea life.
Environmentalist group Sea Shepherd, operating the Steve Irwin ship, speaking on YouTube, said that earlier this year they had chased down five Fu Yuan Yu ships believed to be engaged in illegal drift net fishing in the southern Indian ocean.
Meanwhile, Tiso Blackstar Group environmental journalist Guy Rogers reports that last month senior department of forestry and fisheries (Daff) inspector Dennis Mostert confirmed that sardine catches were made in Algoa Bay.
He also confirmed reports from Port Elizabeth-based dive tour operator Rainer Schimpf that the sardines were “running thick in Gansbaai” near Hermanus.
Speaking from Gansbaai this week, Schimpf said the talk among fishermen and tour operators in that area was about one thing – “the foreign fishing fleet that is raping our resources”.
Schimpf, whose company Expert Tours brings in international underwater photographers to film South Africa’s sardine bait ball phenomenon, said the recent bungled apprehension of nine unmarked vessels off the Wild Coast and the arrest of three this week in the East London Harbour was the tip of the iceberg. — mikel@dispatch.co.za
Rogue fishing boats mystery
The mystery over who owns the three Chinese trawlers moored in the East London harbour accused of illegal fishing off the Eastern Cape deepened yesterday.
Officials involved in the investigation into the Fu Yuan Yu 7880, Fu Yuang Yu 7881 and Run Da 617, which flies the Chinese flag, refused to comment on the vessels’ ownership.
The captains of each appeared in the East London Magistrate’s Court this week and have been confined to their vessels by a court order. They are due back in court on June 15.
The remaining 93 crew are free, said Hawks spokeswoman Captain Anelise Feni. “The identity of the owners is known. No information will be released as this stage.”
Dino Moodley, chairman of the South African squid management industrial association, said they had tried to identify the owners of the company from marine websites but could not find them. However, a Saturday Dispatch internet search yesterday revealed a number of scathing reports about the fishing methods of a “Fu Yuan Yu” owned fishing fleet plundering sea life.
Environmentalist group Sea Shepherd, operating the Steve Irwin ship, speaking on YouTube, said that earlier this year they had chased down five Fu Yuan Yu ships believed to be engaged in illegal drift net fishing in the southern Indian ocean.
Meanwhile, Tiso Blackstar Group environmental journalist Guy Rogers reports that last month senior department of forestry and fisheries (Daff) inspector Dennis Mostert confirmed that sardine catches were made in Algoa Bay.
He also confirmed reports from Port Elizabeth-based dive tour operator Rainer Schimpf that the sardines were “running thick in Gansbaai” near Hermanus.
Speaking from Gansbaai this week, Schimpf said the talk among fishermen and tour operators in that area was about one thing – “the foreign fishing fleet that is raping our resources”.
Schimpf, whose company Expert Tours brings in international underwater photographers to film South Africa’s sardine bait ball phenomenon, said the recent bungled apprehension of nine unmarked vessels off the Wild Coast and the arrest of three this week in the East London Harbour was the tip of the iceberg. — mikel@dispatch.co.za
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