Post by LSDeep on May 24, 2006 19:18:20 GMT -5
A dramatic increase in perlemoen poaching near Port Alfred has forced experts to propose a ban on all recreational diving with scuba tanks along 75km of the Sunshine Coast - before the resource is wiped out.
What began as a trickle eight months ago has become a full-scale invasion in recent weeks as professional syndicates of more than 100 divers a day brazenly poach perlemoen - often in full view of frustrated officials.
Short-staffed, ill-equipped and constantly watched by the very syndicates they are trying to arrest, police, conservation, Marine Coastal Management officials and marine experts in the Ndlambe district openly admit they are rapidly losing the "cat and mouse" battle.
They agreed this week the only way to save the valuable resource would be to implement a total ban on private recreational scuba diving on the Sunshine Coast.
Short-staffed, ill-equipped
Legitimate dive operators would not be affected.
If successful, the findings of the pilot project could then be enforced elsewhere.
"We need to do something drastic right now on the Sunshine Coast, before all is lost. What we learn from enforcing a ban can then be applied nationally. It will buy authorities time to come up with better legislation and save a rapidly dwindling source," one marine expert said.
Although calls for a scuba diving ban were made four years ago on a stretch of coast near Port Elizabeth, they were never implemented. A proposal was submitted to Marine Coastal Management (MCM) head office in Cape Town, which said more scientific research was needed before it could be passed on to the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk.
Marine experts, however, said this week that it had already taken too long, the once abundant resource between Cape Recife and Bushy Park had been all but wiped out.
"The same will happen on the Sunshine Coast if we do not take drastic action very soon," a law enforcement official said.
'We need to do something drastic right now'
He saidfollow-up dives at places where poachers had been spotted - to try to find a perlemoen stash - had only unearthed a veritable graveyard of empty perlemoen shells.
Port Elizabeth-based MCM compliance head for the area including the Sunshine Coast, Mzondeleli Dlulane, on Friday said he agreed the only way to fight the poachers would be to ban scuba diving on the Sunshine Coast and other hotspots - with certain conditions. He said, however, the ban would not affect legal dive operators or tourism.
"We cannot ban scuba diving completely. People should have to apply for a permit with strict rules attached."
Although plans were in the pipeline for a mobile unit in the area, Dlulane admitted anti-perlemoen poaching legislation had to be tightened up even more.
But, while officials grapple with the issue, law enforcement officers on the ground this week explained their frustrations in trying to prevent perlemoen poaching on the Sunshine Coast. Preferring not to be identified, they said each 10m super fast inflatable boat used by the poachers, was capable of harvesting up to 1.5 tons of shucked (deshelled) perlemoen in a few hours.
In the past year only 100kg had been confiscated by officials in the Ndlambe district - in land based operations and not out at sea. The semi-rigid rubber ducks boast two engines between 150hp-300hp and vast fuel reserves allowing them to cover huge areas at breakneck speed.
"The poachers have the best rubber ducks and equipment money can buy. All Port Alfred has to cover 75km of coastline is a 4m duck that can barely make 15km before the one 65hp motor needs to be refuelled. It is a losing battle," one official said.
Sometimes decoy boats and divers are used to lure authorities while the syndicates clean out other perlemoen beds.
In the past eight months since big city syndicates moved into the area, officials said the poachers had become so brazen that they even launched their rubber ducks complete with tanks, diving equipment and up to 12 men, on the slipway outside the municipal conservation offices.
"We know what they are doing and have spent hours watching them clean out certain areas with impunity. Unless we catch them red-handed with the perlemoen, there is little we can do. The poachers know this and they just laugh at us."
In recent months, the syndicates have even bought property in Port Alfred and rented houses to establish a permanent foothold in the seaside resort.
Driving the latest luxury German cars, members have also been linked to drugs, illegal wildlife trade - like cycads and the Cape parrot - and often run front businesses to make them appear legitimate.
And the poachers are making their presence felt in the town in more ways than just abalone. They have also allegedly been involved in at least two serious fist fights in local pubs - with the victims too scared to even press charges.
Academics this week accused MCM of failing to grasp the extent and scope of the problem on the Sunshine Coast.
"We need to form a green scorpions unit that can seize and use confiscated equipment to fight poaching. "If we do not do something drastic soon, there will be no perlemoen left to show our children."
www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20060521093037505C919535
What began as a trickle eight months ago has become a full-scale invasion in recent weeks as professional syndicates of more than 100 divers a day brazenly poach perlemoen - often in full view of frustrated officials.
Short-staffed, ill-equipped and constantly watched by the very syndicates they are trying to arrest, police, conservation, Marine Coastal Management officials and marine experts in the Ndlambe district openly admit they are rapidly losing the "cat and mouse" battle.
They agreed this week the only way to save the valuable resource would be to implement a total ban on private recreational scuba diving on the Sunshine Coast.
Short-staffed, ill-equipped
Legitimate dive operators would not be affected.
If successful, the findings of the pilot project could then be enforced elsewhere.
"We need to do something drastic right now on the Sunshine Coast, before all is lost. What we learn from enforcing a ban can then be applied nationally. It will buy authorities time to come up with better legislation and save a rapidly dwindling source," one marine expert said.
Although calls for a scuba diving ban were made four years ago on a stretch of coast near Port Elizabeth, they were never implemented. A proposal was submitted to Marine Coastal Management (MCM) head office in Cape Town, which said more scientific research was needed before it could be passed on to the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk.
Marine experts, however, said this week that it had already taken too long, the once abundant resource between Cape Recife and Bushy Park had been all but wiped out.
"The same will happen on the Sunshine Coast if we do not take drastic action very soon," a law enforcement official said.
'We need to do something drastic right now'
He saidfollow-up dives at places where poachers had been spotted - to try to find a perlemoen stash - had only unearthed a veritable graveyard of empty perlemoen shells.
Port Elizabeth-based MCM compliance head for the area including the Sunshine Coast, Mzondeleli Dlulane, on Friday said he agreed the only way to fight the poachers would be to ban scuba diving on the Sunshine Coast and other hotspots - with certain conditions. He said, however, the ban would not affect legal dive operators or tourism.
"We cannot ban scuba diving completely. People should have to apply for a permit with strict rules attached."
Although plans were in the pipeline for a mobile unit in the area, Dlulane admitted anti-perlemoen poaching legislation had to be tightened up even more.
But, while officials grapple with the issue, law enforcement officers on the ground this week explained their frustrations in trying to prevent perlemoen poaching on the Sunshine Coast. Preferring not to be identified, they said each 10m super fast inflatable boat used by the poachers, was capable of harvesting up to 1.5 tons of shucked (deshelled) perlemoen in a few hours.
In the past year only 100kg had been confiscated by officials in the Ndlambe district - in land based operations and not out at sea. The semi-rigid rubber ducks boast two engines between 150hp-300hp and vast fuel reserves allowing them to cover huge areas at breakneck speed.
"The poachers have the best rubber ducks and equipment money can buy. All Port Alfred has to cover 75km of coastline is a 4m duck that can barely make 15km before the one 65hp motor needs to be refuelled. It is a losing battle," one official said.
Sometimes decoy boats and divers are used to lure authorities while the syndicates clean out other perlemoen beds.
In the past eight months since big city syndicates moved into the area, officials said the poachers had become so brazen that they even launched their rubber ducks complete with tanks, diving equipment and up to 12 men, on the slipway outside the municipal conservation offices.
"We know what they are doing and have spent hours watching them clean out certain areas with impunity. Unless we catch them red-handed with the perlemoen, there is little we can do. The poachers know this and they just laugh at us."
In recent months, the syndicates have even bought property in Port Alfred and rented houses to establish a permanent foothold in the seaside resort.
Driving the latest luxury German cars, members have also been linked to drugs, illegal wildlife trade - like cycads and the Cape parrot - and often run front businesses to make them appear legitimate.
And the poachers are making their presence felt in the town in more ways than just abalone. They have also allegedly been involved in at least two serious fist fights in local pubs - with the victims too scared to even press charges.
Academics this week accused MCM of failing to grasp the extent and scope of the problem on the Sunshine Coast.
"We need to form a green scorpions unit that can seize and use confiscated equipment to fight poaching. "If we do not do something drastic soon, there will be no perlemoen left to show our children."
www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20060521093037505C919535