12 Sep 2018

Department of wildlife officials have decried the high rate of illegal fishing at Dikgathong and Shashe dams.

Speaking in an interview, senior wildlife warden Mr Odirile Kgotla said they were experiencing an influx of illegal fishers, revealing that the situation was so bad that in any given day of the week, a number of people were found in possession of stolen fish.

He said according to statistics, most people involved in illegal fishing were from Mandunyane, Tati Siding and Francistown locations.

“We have a fishing quota of 12 people at Dikgathong, and we have allocated those 12 only to the poverty eradication programme which means no one apart from the beneficiaries are allowed to fish in the dam,” Mr Kgotla explained.

However, he said it was clear that there were more people involved in fishing illegally in the dam than those with legal commercial fishing permits. He explained that the culprits gained access to the dam through a number of ways, including applying for dam entry permits from Water Utilities Corporation.

He said after being granted permits, the culprits proceeded into the dam to start fishing illegally under the guise of visitors.

Mr Kgotla said the most worrying thing about illegal fishing was that the offenders used inappropriate fishing nets, and that some used mosquito nets and bags used for packaging oranges.

“Using those enables them to catch just about anything they come across under the water with mosquito nets ending up trapping fish eggs. This means fish eggs are removed from the water, consequently causing a drop in fish production,” he explained. He said they had confiscated different sizes of fishing nets which most culprits said they bought from Chinese shops in town. Mr Kgotla lamented that the small nets captured not just eggs but also growing fish.

He explained that there were prerequisites for one to sell nets such as a gill dealer’s licence, adding that selling nets without the required licence was prohibited.

He said it had become apparent that the charges for illegal fishing were too low as first offenders were charged P200 while repeat offenders were charged P500.

He noted that a cooler box full of fish sold for around P400, which he said made it easy for the culprits to raise money to pay the fines.

Mr Kgotla also noted that the Shashe Dam fish population had dropped drastically, hence there was less fishing activity at the dam.ENDS