Marine team snag net |24 June 2004

An illegal 90-metre long, "wall of death" type fishing net was pulled from the sea on Tuesday night by a fisheries patrol team.
Staff from the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA), Coastguard and Marine Parks Authority (MPA) recovered the unlicensed net, which had been set outside the Port Launay marine park.

An SFA spokesperson said that the gill net, branded a "wall of death" by some for the way it traps all marine life that swim into it, was illegal on two counts; firstly as it was unlicensed and secondly as Seychelles law prohibits nets being set overnight.

"Under the fisheries act every net should be licensed, regardless of size," said the spokesperson.
A fishing net licence costs R125 per year, while the fine for unlicensed netting has recently been doubled to R20,000.

The joint fisheries team was acting on a tip-off from a member of the public when they discovered the net which was found to contain a variety of marine species.

Asked how widespread illegal overnight netting was the spokesperson said, "It is difficult to say how much is going on, but it is always the case that, during the south-east monsoon when the fishermen cannot travel as far out to sea, we have a rise in it."

Despite the tip-off from the member of the public the SFA spokesperson said that it was unlikely that the people responsible for setting the unlicensed net would be apprehended.
"It is not easy to catch people as we have quite an expanse of water to cover. We always target the inshore areas during the south-east monsoon, but there are limitations to our resources," he said.
The spokesperson said that fisheries patrols are sent to specific areas to check for the presence of unlicensed nets.