The Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court has convicted a fisherman of illegal commercial fishing and transporting tiger sharks in a protected marine area. In terms of a plea bargain agreement with the state, the fisherman, Rustin Naidoo, 23, was ordered to pay an effective R20 000. Naidoo and his father, Valayithum Naidoo, 49, were charged in February last year after they were seen by tourists bringing three headless sharks to the shore at Rocky Bay, Umkomaas.
According to the information the witnesses saw the sharks were loaded into a bakkie and driven away. It was reported at the time that the sharks had been caught at Aliwal Shoal on the South Coast a, marine protected area. The duo fishermen were charged with contravening a regulation that bans catching, transporting and possessing certain fish in marine protected areas, and with contravening a section of the Marine Living Resources Act for undertaking commercial fishing without a licence.
After few appeals the court has dropped all charges against Naidoo’s father. But Naidoo pleaded guilty to both charges. In his plea agreement Naidoo said that one of his crew had caught the tiger sharks outside the Aliwal Shoal and that he had unlawfully transported the fish through the shoal, knowing his actions were illegal.
In mitigation of sentence, Naidoo said he regretted his actions and had only transported the sharks through the shoal to use the nearest landing site at Rocky Bay. He added he had applied for a commercial fishing licence in December 2007, but his application had not been received by the fisheries department in Cape Town and had not been processed.
