ECOSYSTEM THREAT: Gill nets galore in Kosi lakes, despite illegal fishing clampdown

Kosi Bay, a chain of four clear-water lakes on the border between KZN and southern Mozambique, is one of the most unspoiled lake and estuary systems in the country. Legally protected as a nature reserve since 1987, it also home to a rich variety of marine and freshwater fish that have been harvested in traditional fish traps by the local community for hundreds of years.

But population growth and rising unemployment levels in the surrounding region have increased pressure on the fish populations of the four lakes over recent decades, along with a steady increase in illegal gill-netting.

Over the past year alone, anti-poaching officers have removed nearly 300 gill nets from the lakes. With a combined length of almost 23km, this wall of nylon netting is long enough to stretch from Sandton City to Midrand, or from the Durban City Hall to Pinetown.

Unlike the traditional wood and reed fish traps that allow juvenile fish to escape, gill nets form a virtually impenetrable curtain of synthetic netting which targets fish indiscriminately – catching all species and all sizes of fish in large numbers.

Last month, in a joint operation involving nearly 60 police and other law enforcement officers, a supermarket owner and at least one local resident were arrested in the nearby town of eManguzi as part of a government clampdown on illegal fishing syndicates in the Kosi Bay area.

In response to queries from Daily Maverick about the arrest of several illegal fish syndicate suspects, the national Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) said it had “prioritised this issue for further investigation and targeted enforcement”.

“We can confirm that arrests were made but given that investigations are still ongoing, will not disclose further details at this stage.”

However, the department did confirm that at least two arrests following the recent operation involving the SA Police, Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, Border Management Agency, Customs Department and SA Defence Force.

One of the suspects, from KwaMahlungulu village, was arrested in the centre of eManguzi after he was found selling nearly 700 fish (including tilapia, stumpnose, catfish, and silver bream). They also confiscated three chest freezers and charged him for alleged offences under the Marine Living Resources Act.

“On the following day, a Chinese national, the owner and/or manager of One by One Supermarket in eManguzi, was issued with an admission of guilt fine of R5,000. The suspect and her son were also arrested for alleged contraventions of the Immigration Act.”

Another four written warnings were issued to people transporting fish and to women selling fish in front of Shoprite Supermarket in eManguzi.

However, the department acknowledged that large joint operations like these were “not sustainable due to cost implications”. Sources in the area have reported that women were still selling fish in central eManguzi the day after the operation ended.

Over the past few weeks, several images have also circulated on social media showing some of the fish alleged to have been caught in gill nets at Kosi Bay. These included large hauls of giant kingfish (also known as giant trevally or “GTs”) – an iconic predatory fish that can reach lengths of 170cm and 80kg in weight.

Dr Robert “Scotty” Kyle, a former Ezemvelo fish researcher who was based at Kosi Bay from 1980 to 2018, says gill nets at Kosi Bay remain a “major problem”.

“Seeing those photos on social media is quite upsetting... You just can’t keep pulling out fish that size on a sustainable basis.”

According to Ezemvelo, anti-poaching units have seized and destroyed gill netting stretching for more than 20km, each year, for the past four years.

“Everyone knows about the gill-netting,” says Kyle. “It’s been a problem for decades and it remains a major problem. This is all about a lack of political will to provide Ezemvelo with adequate funding and the resources to do their jobs, including sufficient staff, vehicles and patrol boats.”

Kyle recalls that he drew attention to the problem in his Ph.D thesis back in 1986.

In a separate scientific report almost 30 years later, Kyle repeated his concerns, stating that: “While traditional trapping and other fisheries in Kosi Bay likely coexisted sustainably in the past, there is now compelling evidence that overall catch rates for many species are unsustainable... Action is now required to reduce catches to levels that appear to be wise, sustainable and appropriate for this World Heritage Site, to the mutual benefit of local trappers and other fishers.”

He noted that the number of traditional traps remained fairly similar from 1981 until 1994, but thereafter they had more than trebled by 2001. Although numbers decreased after this, they remained well above earlier levels.  

He has pointed to another emerging concern – the increasing volume of poorly treated sewage and effluent seeping into the lakes from expanding residential areas.

Kyle notes that historically, the lakes were regarded as nutrient deficient, whereas they were now moving towards eutrophic conditions in some places. This increasing nutrient enrichment has created a risk of sudden oxygen depletion and major fish kills.

“The sand in the feeder streams used to be white. Now you are finding sludge there.”

While the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority did not respond to requests for comment, the authority issued a statement last year calling on all community members, fishers, and visitors to report illegal gill-netting or fishing activities.

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has also asked the public to report illegal fishing to Mzondeleli Dlulane, the department’s director of monitoring and surveillance at mdlulane@dffe.gov.za 

Information can also be reported to the Environmental Crimes and Incidents Hotline at 0800 205 005 or the nearest Fisheries Compliance Office. DM