Four Chinese-flagged fishing vessels were fined R400 000 and released after a coordinated operation by officials and the police
Fishers claim they are forced into illegal trawling because subsidies only benefit big vessels
Syndicates operating across international boundaries are depleting South Africa’s ocean resources
France, SA and Mozambique will give trawlers in the Mozambique Channel a harder time, but can they control the $23bn a year industry?
Fines are a slap on the wrist as trawlers simply return to sea, revealing the difficulty of patrolling SA’s 1.5-million kilometre square waters.
Foreign trawlers invading South Africa’s oceans costs the economy R60bn a year because it can’t afford to patrol and control its resources.
A landmark ruling in a New York court sent out a strong message against the plunder of South Africa’s wildlife resources.
Eight Southern African coastal states have agreed to set up a regional task force to deal with illegal fishing in their waters and save fish stocks.
