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Thread: Fishermen caught poaching

  1. #1
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    Default Namibian shark poachers nailed

    See several posts here on poaching. Came across this article.

    Shark Poachers Nailed
    Discovery News July 24th

    This week, authorities in Mozambique seized and confiscated an unlicensed vessel from Namibia that was illegally fishing for sharks off the southeastern coast of Africa. Although we often hear about ocean poachers, what was found on the vessel makes it easy to understand why shark populations worldwide are nearly all threatened, with some on the brink of extinction.

    The Namibian ship, called the Antillas Reefer, had this as its cargo:

    43 tons of sharks

    4 tons of shark fins

    1.8 tons of shark tails

    11.3 tons of shark liver

    20 tons of shark oil

    The value of the catch?
    Five million dollars.

    The Antillas Reefer almost got away with the crime. A Mozambique company, Sabcal Pescas, first brought the vessel into the region on the pretense of tuna fishing. The Fisheries Ministry there was supposed to issue it a license for this activity but, even before any gear was inspected, the Antillas Reefer went out hunting for sharks—with banned gear. If it weren't for some watchful legit Mozambican fishermen, who spotted the ship, it would still be out in the water hauling up more sharks.

    The company that owned the illegal vessel was fined $4.5 million, in addition to the authorities seizing and confiscating the ship.

    You can see the problem. One kilogram (about 2.2 pounds) of shark anything is worth about $700. That is 70 times the value of the same amount of tuna. So long as there is high public demand for shark fin soup, shark meat, shark teeth souvenirs, shark skin and other shark products, the poaching will continue.

    At least authorities seem to be stepping up their efforts. Conservation groups have also been following fishermen that practice shark finning. The below rare footage shows the carnage these ships often leave behind on the ocean floor.

    Poaching is just one threat facing sharks now. As Shark Week gets underway at the Discovery Channel, please tune in here again to learn what you can do to help ensure that sharks have a future.

  2. #2
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    Default Illegal international fishing impoverishes Guinea's fishermen

    Illegal international fishing impoverishes Guinea's fishermen
    Source: IRIN

    The livelihoods of fishermen in Guinea are increasingly threatened by the many industrial trawlers from Europe, China, Korea and Russia, which often operate illegally in Guinea's once-abundant waters.

    "The exclusive zones that are reserved for local fishing should be recognised by the industrial boats and they should stay away from them because their presence is causing a lot of economic and social problems," Souba Camara, a government port official in Conakry told IRIN. He said it is illegal for industrial boats to fish in areas near the shore designated for local fisherman but the laws are largely ignored.

    Enforcing the laws would not just benefit a few fishermen, Camara said. "A local fisherman may have 50 people depending on the earnings from his net." Almost none of the large industrial boats in Guinea's waters are owned by Guineans.

    The government is also losing revenue for what is one of the world's poorest countries. More than US$100 million worth of fish are pirated out of Guinea's waters each year, according to a study by London-based Marine Resources Assessment Group.

    But it is the local fishermen who are feeling the loss most. "If we could fix this situation so that the big boats stay in their assigned zones away from us [local fishermen] we would be able to do our work," fisherman Mamadou Camara said. "If not, we may not have fish left in our zone within a year."

    Guinea's government has tried to ban the export of some species of fish to increase their availability in local markets. However, fishermen IRIN talked with said this just opened the door for more illegal international trade and diminished their earnings further. The government does not have the means to monitor its waters, Souba Camara, the port official, said.

    In 2003 authorities attempted a project in which local fishermen used radios to report sightings of pirate ships and other illegal activity to various control posts along the coast, but the initiative lacked funding and in 2006 stopped functioning, the chairman of the Guinea association of local fishermen, Issiaga Daffe told IRIN. Daffe called for renewed monitoring efforts by the government and donors and micro-financing for fishermen.

    The safety of fishermen is also a growing concern. The number of boating accidents has increased with the growth in illegal fishing, as many of the illegal boats operate at night without lights. "There have been cases of people being killed," Souba Camara, the official, said.

    Despite the increased risks and decreased revenue the fishermen say they have no alternatives but to continue their work. "Fishing is all I know," said Souriba Camara, who owns a three-man wooden boat named "Have Confidence" and hails from a long line of fishermen. "Fishing is who I am," he said.

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    Default Malaysian navy detains Thai fisherman for illegal fishing

    Asia World News
    Posted : Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:39:04 GMT Author : DPA
    Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian navy officers seized a Thai fishing boat and detained nine people on board for fishing illegally in waters off Malaysia's eastern Terengganu state, reports said Tuesday.

    The vessel, believed to be from the southern Thai province of Songkhla, was seized by a navy patrol boat early Sunday said state capital maritime chief Syed Mohamad Fuzi Syed Hasan. "On seeing the navy vessel approaching, the Thai fishing boat tried to flee but failed," Syed Mohamad Fuzi was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency. He said patrol officers detained the skipper and eight crew members, adding that 300 kilograms of catch on board the fishing boat was also seized. Syed Mohamad Fuzi said the suspects, aged between 25 and 45 years, would be placed under remand and are likely to be charged for encroaching and fishing on illegal waters. If found guilty, the skipper faces a fine of 1 million ringgit (303,000 dollars) while each crew member could be fined 100,000 ringgit (31,300 dollars).

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    Default Fishermen caught poaching

    Six Sri Lankan fishermen caught poaching in Indian waters were arrested Monday by the Coast Guard and remanded to judicial custody, official sources said.

    Their mechanised boat was seized. The men were from Trincomalee in Sri Lanka's east.
    "Preliminary interrogation reveals that they had no links to terrorist activity and were merely fishing in our waters," R. Sabaratnam, a police official who took the suspects to prison, told IANS.

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    Default

    Sea Shepard - His method for stopping poachers


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    Default

    Sent in by Fin, thanks.

    (CTX) Illegal Fishermen Plunder Liambezi


    Sounds like our Fishery!

    +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

    Illegal Fishermen Plunder Liambezi
    2014-01-30 14:12:45.475 GMT


    By George Sanzila
    Jan. 30, 2014 (All Africa Global Media) -- Inhabitants of
    the Zambezi Region have once again raised concern over
    overfishing and the illegal fishing methods being used by
    foreigners.

    There are serious and widespread concerns that the
    uncontrolled plunder of fish on the Namibian side of the Zambezi
    and in Lake Liambezi in particular by hordes of foreign
    fishermen could deplete the fishery resource. Inhabitants of the
    region complain that foreign fishermen have crowded Lake
    Liambezi, 68 kilometres east of Katima Mulilo, and that they
    have even found new fishing grounds to continue their
    unscrupulous activities at places such as Liashulu, Lusu and
    Zilitene although their numbers in those areas are said to be
    negligible. Information revealed to New Era also indicates that
    locals are offered thousands of dollars to conceal the illicit,
    but highly lucrative operations. Foreign fishermen are further
    said to be selling their catches directly to locals at
    exorbitant prices.

    According to statistics provided to New Era
    by the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, between 300
    to 400 illegal foreign fishermen were deported last year during
    joint operations with law enforcement agencies, but the problem
    of illegal fishing persists. Given the gravity of the problem
    some people fear that the fish resources available, particularly
    in Lake Liambezi may soon become depleted as has been the case
    on some lakes and rivers in Africa. Dorothy Kabula, a former
    councillor of the Linyanti constituency who travelled to Lake
    Liambezi last week in search of fish said she was shocked to
    discover that many foreign fishermen inhabit the inland lake to
    plunder the country's resources without any action being taken
    by immigration officials.

    "There's a very big loophole at Lake
    Liambezi. Most people I found there are non-Namibians. They have
    big containers filled up with freshwater fish that they sell
    directly to the locals. How can foreign people just come from
    their country and start fishing in our rivers? Because of this
    loophole, many foreign nationals are coming in every day. I
    bought fish last week. Money that these people generate goes
    directly to their own country at the expense of unemployed
    locals," Kabula complained bitterly.

    According to her, markets such as Kasumbalesa, a border
    town located between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and
    Zambia where demand for Namibian fish is said to be very high,
    is fuelling the exploitation of fish resources by foreign
    fishermen from those countries who enter Namibia under the
    pretext of visiting only to engage in the illegal plunder of
    freshwater fish.

    She said existing laws are not enforced by the
    authorities or they are too lenient resulting in the current
    predicament. "Our fish here goes to Kasumbalesa. That's where
    the money is. It would be better if they at least buy fish from
    us. At the end of the day Lake Liambezi will have no fish. Our
    authorities are only bothering our local people here demanding
    fish permits, but do nothing to illegal foreign fishermen. It's
    very painful. We are promoting poverty among our people," she
    charged.

    However, Damian Nchindo, senior fisheries biologist in the
    Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources who did not rule out
    the possibility of foreign fishermen at Lake Liambezi and
    elsewhere said even though the ministry conducts regular
    monitoring of rivers, his office has not received any such
    concerns from the public and that a follow-up will be made very
    soon to ascertain the validity of the claims. "We have not
    received that information. We do monitoring all the time
    checking particularly for fishing permits and nets used. We have
    this problem of locals harbouring foreign fishermen and
    sometimes it's very difficult for us to find these people. We
    will make follow-ups very soon," promised Nchindo. According to
    him even though operations have been conducted before to root
    out out illegal foreign fishermen, stakeholder involvement and
    teamwork is imperative for the success of such operations.
    "Stakeholder involvement and cooperation is important. Like with
    us, we just monitor if these people have fishing permits.
    Immigration also does their part by arresting culprits according
    to the immigration laws or charge them.

    Most of the time these
    people are just deported and end up coming back again and again,
    because they are not given any penalties," stressed Nchindo. He
    further said, the Ministry of Fisheries has gone to the extent
    of forming fishing committees in areas adjacent to rivers, but
    these have been rendered toothless because they lack legal
    powers. "We have fishing committees that help us to monitor and
    report any unscrupulous fishing activities, but these committees
    lack power. Some of the fishing committees particularly those in
    conservancy areas are making an effort. Maybe if we legalise
    these committees it would help," stressed the fisheries
    official.

    As part of its sensitisation efforts, the fisheries
    ministry also plans on inviting their Zambian counterparts since
    the majority of illegal foreign fishermen are suspected to come
    from that country, according to Nchindo. "We plan on inviting
    Zambian fisheries officials to accompany us to the lake to see
    how our resources are being plundered by their nationals," he
    said.

    Katima Rural constituency councillor Warden Simushi said he
    has made illegal fishing one of his priorities this year, adding
    that he would leave no stone unturned and that the law will not
    be discriminatory, since locals are said to be involved in the
    harbouring of illegal foreign fishermen. "I have heard of locals
    harbouring foreigners particularly at Muyako. I am busy making
    arrangements to root out that problem. I even heard that
    foreigners come with large sums of money that they pay to locals
    for them to conceal their activities and to be allocated fishing
    areas on the island. We must also charge and fine people who are
    harbouring foreigners. That is what we are going to do to flush
    out these illegal activities," warned Simushi. According to
    Simushi fishing committees seem not to work, because of pressure
    from the communities themselves. "Fishing committees were
    elected by the community. The same community is now giving
    pressure to these committees and they are no longer performing
    their duties as they should," he said. Zambezi Police Regional
    Police Commander, Commissioner Bollen Sankwasa, who is also
    unhappy about the alleged plunder, bemoaned the lack of
    cooperation between stakeholders saying it is the main
    impediment to the success of joint operations. "We lack
    cooperation or if it's there it should be revisited. Our main
    focus as the police is just to enforce the law, the rest is up
    to the other parties to do. Acts are there.

    But if they don't
    give penalties to the culprits, this problem will be repetitive.
    We already had three operations last year. Again our own people
    are the ones hiding these foreigners. These days they even
    announce on radio that they want fishermen. People from DRC or
    Zambia cannot know where Lake Liambezi is. It is our own people
    who bring them. We must know this resource is not for one
    person, it's for the entire country," he said. Lake Liambezi,
    which is fed from the Zambezi River and known for its abundant
    fish resources, is often a hotbed for illegal fishing. Many
    joint police and fisheries operations against illegal fishing
    activities at the lake have been conducted in the past, but the
    problem refuses to go away. Towards the end of last year in one
    such operations, nine foreign nationals, two Angolans and seven
    Zambians were arrested at Lake Liambezi in a joint operation
    that also targeted poachers.

    What makes foreign fishermen elude
    authorities easily is the number of small islands that are
    dotted all over the lake making them hard to detect, except by
    helicopter patrols. Culprits often erect makeshift shelters and
    camp on the islands for days.

    The Zambezi region is popular for its freshwater fish,
    particularly Tilapia but prices at the local market have also
    soared of late with some residents attributing the increase to
    foreign fishermen who are said to be selling fish at much higher
    prices. Fish is the best and most readily available nutritional
    option for the majority of people in the region who cannot
    afford the exorbitant price of beef. Many people in the region
    also eke out a living from catching and selling fish.

    Copyright New Era. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media

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