Raggy Charters Assist Alikreukel Bust
Tuesday, 15th September 2015This is the forth Alikreukel arrest members from the Seaview Community have assisted with in the last year. The problem is getting a bit out of hand and escalating. The biggest problem is that the inspectors are so far from Seaview and take a while to get here. That is why we have been carrying out citizen arrests in the past. Now we have been requested to keep the suspects under surveillance until the DAFF inspectors arrive.
In todays bust, Dennis Mostert from DAFF gave me a call at 11 45am and told me there were suspects loading Alikreukel into their vehicle in front of Beachview. I drove to the scene and kept the suspects under surveillance. They then left the area and travelled to Greenbushes. I kept up with them and on the Old Cape Road at Greenbushes I contacted the DAFF inspectors and members of the Abalone Task Team who had now caught up to me. They pulled the suspects off the road and searched the vehicle.
The found 176 Alikreukel of which 132 were under the legal size of 63mm. After charging the suspects the Alikreukel were returned to me in Seaview, still alive. I will put them back into the sea at tonight's low tide.
It is quite sad to think that for generations people have been harvesting these animals sustainably as the law allows an individual with a permit to take 5, as long as they are more than 63mm in diameter. This was one of the shellfish harvested by early hominids who lived along the Eastern Cape Coast 60 000 years ago. It was thought that the consumption of such a high protein diet by our early ancestors is what led to us developing a much larger brain. Let us all put these large brains together and work out solutions to protect or marine life. Getting the local community involved and empowering them is surely a step in the right direction.
Lloyd Edwards, Seaview, 14th September 2015
