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Whistle-blower fears for his life

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Whistle-blower fears for his life

 

 

 

John Yeld June 05 2008 at 11:25AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barbaric attacks on seals, unspeakable cruelty to seals and sharks, and irresponsible dumping of trash in the sea by some snoek fishermen have horrified observers during this year's snoek run, now happening off the west coast of the Peninsula.An e-mail letter appealing for help in stopping the attacks is being widely circulated, but the author has asked to stay anonymous, fearing for his life."I have already been told privately by a fisherman who heard about the letter that they will club the author just like the seal was clubbed," he said.Seals are always targeted by some fishermen and the issue becomes critical every year when fishermen try to maximise the opportunities presented by the snoek bonanza.

 

 

 

 

 

'One boat hooked a seal in the mouth'But seals are a protected species and it is illegal to harm them or even disturb them.However, this legislation is widely ignored by the fishing community and policing by the responsible authorities is extremely difficult."Bill" said he had circulated the e-mail "with a heavy heart"."I had the opportunity to 'ride along' with a commercial fishing boat from Hout Bay to the snoek run off Olifantsbos, which is towards Cape Point."On our way out to the fishing area, one could almost follow the fleet from the constant trail of rubbish discarded by the craft ahead of us", about 100 plastic cans of oil, soft plastic cold drink bottles, cigarette boxes and discarded bait boxes.During the few hours he had been at sea, at least eight seals had been shot in the head, he said. "The seals were coming close to the boat and the skippers would shoot them to prevent them from stealing the snoek off the lines."One boat hooked a seal in the mouth. The fisherman pulled its head out of the water, leaned out of the boat and proceeded to hit it on the head approximately 100 times until the seal's head split open, blood splattering everywhere, and then was cut free to sink into a pool of blood."And one boat hooked a mako shark. Once it was on the side of the boat, the fisherman clubbed it twice on its head so it was stunned, then lifted its tail out of the water, took a knife and cut the end of its tail off so that it could no longer swim. "He discarded the tail and the semi-conscious shark into the water."This sort of behaviour was "absolutely barbaric and unforgivable", "Bill" said.Bill said he had been warned not to say anything to the skippers or fishermen involved for fear of his own safety and that of his family, and had unfortunately not written down the names of the boats involved."I was so shocked at the disturbing images that I wasn't thinking clearly enough."The issue of illegally killing seals was confirmed separately by two other professionals who go to sea, neither of whom wanted to be identified because of threats, intimidation and previous attacks on people.Andries Venter, chief inspector of the Cape of Good Hope branch of the SPCA, said he would ask one of his inspectors to work with the relevant government officials to find who was responsible for these "cruel acts" and to find ways to prevent future incidents."The allegations are of grave concern and we understand his (need for) anonymity," he said. Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism spokesperson Mava Scott said they "strongly condemned" such behaviour, and were trying to track the author of the letter for details."We do request members of the public to take down as many details as possible, and where possible to take pictures. These could all be used for effective follow-up actions."Snoek vessels were monitored by vessel monitoring system and by inspections at sea and at slipways, Scott said.

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