It appears that four offenses were committed but only one fine was imposed by the Fisheries Department

  • A Chinese fishing company was fined R400,000 last month after four of its trawlers breached its conditions for passing through South African waters.
  • But the vessels appear to have committed a number of other crimes, including apparently fishing for several days in Algoa Bay before being arrested.
  • A trawler appears to be carrying on fishing activity in South African waters despite being fined.
  • Researchers say not enough is being done to protect our waters from foreign and local illegal fishing.

South African authorities last month fined four Chinese-flagged fishing trawlers for violating their authorization to sail through national waters. But this is only one of the many crimes committed by trawlers.

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It appears that all four vessels fished in Algoa Bay before being fined by authorities and released. Yet the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE) say no fish were found in any of their holds.

One of the vessels appears to have been fishing off the west coast on its way out of South African waters after being abandoned.

DFFE on 12th March said The Chinese-flagged trawlers Zhongyang 231, Zhongyang 232, Zhongyang 233 and Zhongyang 239 were “placed under guard by SAPS tactical team members and fisheries control officers at the Port of Cape Town”.

This was “while compliance procedures were finalized between the DFFE and the vessel owner, Shenzhen Shuiwan Pelagic Fisheries”.

In response to GroundUp's questions, DFFE spokesperson Zoleil Nakayi said the vessels – all 46-metre fishing trawlers – had applied for “innocent passage” through South Africa's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on 23 February, and were approved with an exit date of 3 March.

The vessels were detected about 12 nautical miles off the KwaZulu-Natal coast on February 27, according to a statement from Minister Willie Aucamp. They were repeatedly turning off their automatic identification system (an essential tracking device), which is illegal.

“Based on the available evidence, there were reasonable grounds to suspect non-compliance with the Marine Living Resources Act,” Aucamp said.

“The shipowners were charged and given an administrative fine of R400,000. The shipowner later paid the fine, after which the ships were released and departed from South African waters,” Aucamp said.

Nakayi said the violation was entering internal waters, which was not part of his “innocent passage” authority.

Nakayi said the trawlers were stopped between 15 and 20 nautical miles off Hout Bay at about 6.30 pm on 3 March and kept under observation from 3 to 5 March. He said the vessels were inspected and no fish were found on board.

fishing activity

but publicly accessible Global Fishing Watch The site, operated by an international non-profit organization that tracks fishing activity, shows that all four vessels had spent about four days in fishing activity in Algoa Bay from 27 February to 2 March.

Additionally, on February 28, there was what was said to be an “encounter incident” from midnight to 8 a.m. in Zhongyang 231 and Zhongyang 233. These usually indicate transshipment, when cargo or fuel is transferred from one ship to another. authorization for transshipment, which is highly regulatedUsually required within the EEZ and fines of up to R2 million are imposed for violations.

Additionally, the Global Fishing Watch tracker shows that after the Zhongyang 231 was released from the Port of Cape Town on March 5, it engaged in fishing activity for three hours on March 6 before exiting South African waters on the morning of March 7 along with three other vessels.

DFFE has its own vessel monitoring equipmentWhich it states “serves as a cornerstone of South Africa's maritime security and environmental protection strategies… empowering South Africa to take full control of its maritime domain.” This tool is reserved for government departments such as law enforcement and security agencies and “approved stakeholders”.

But neither the statement of DFFE nor its Presentation in Parliament on 17 March After the vessels left South African waters, there was no mention of apparent fishing activity or transshipment, nor that Zhongyang 231 apparently engaged in fishing activity after being fined and released.

When parliamentary portfolio committee chair Nkabisa Gantsho asked whether the R400,000 fine was an effective deterrent, or was simply perceived by shipowners as a “cost of doing business”, DFFE Director General Nomfundo Tshabalala said the fine was considered sufficient, as no repeat offenses had been observed “to date”.

Only one incident recorded in ten years

In 2016 there was a spate of raids to stop and prosecute foreign vessels operating illegally in South Africa's EEZ.

in may of the same year Nine Chinese trawlers were stopped But then split in different directions. One of them, Lu Huang Yuan Yu 186, was caught, found guilty of entering the EEZ without a valid permit and fined R200,000.

in June 2016 three Chinese flagged trawlers They were fined a total of R1.95 million for not having the required fishing gear permits. Taiwanese trawler in September that year Chin Jen Wen Was arrested on suspicion of not being authorized to be in national waters, and found to be in violation of pollution prevention regulations.

But a search of the DFFE statements shows only one event Over the next ten years foreign ships were detained for entering the EEZ without permission. In April 2020, six Chinese ships were detained and fined, but the fine amount has not been disclosed.

This is despite a Institute for Security Studies report 2020 saw “a huge increase in illegal activities for the financial year 2017/18 and an increase in the number of tip-offs by the public”.

Local ships also guilty

“From time to time (DFFE) do these operations and say we are doing our job, but they are not,” says Enrico Gennari, director of Mossel Bay-based Oceans Research.