Regulars to Fish Hoek beach have been wondering what the randomly placed white buoys at the mouth of Fish Hoek Bay are all about? Great White Shark Research was the popular assumption. Wrong!! They are part of an experimental whelk fishing project.
On 11 March 2012, a 4m plus female Great White Shark was hauled up after becoming entangled in a rope between a whelk trap and the white marker buoy. The quiet wondering about the whelk fishing has suddenly splashed across the news as the story the Great White Shark went viral. I had a double knee jerk reaction –a real kick start to the week. First a protected species has been killed and second there was a reference to chumming for whelks. Time to get some facts!
From what I could glean at this early stage. A license has been issued by Dept of Agriculture and Fisheries to test whether a number of sites on the West and South East coast of South Africa as well as Fish Hoek Bay are ecologically sound, sustainable and economically viable for whelk fishing. The whelk fishing is based on a modified crayfish trap and a bait bag. So there is no chumming. Was the shark lured by the bait bags – apparently not likely – or not directly anyway. The bait bag is too small to attract the shark. It could have attracted an octopus or a small shark or fish which could have roused the attention of a passing great white shark which then became entangled in the rope attached to the whelk trap. Great white Sharks are curious and it could have come to inspect something new and become entangled. The fishermen were persuaded to hand the shark, which is a protected species, to the researchers who will examine it to assess its condition etc. The picture above is of the shark being landed at the Simon’s Town Jetty and was taken by Brandon Kilbride.
Is the loss of a member of an endangered and a protected species `acceptable’ collateral damage and should any form of fishing with unattended bait be permissible in Fish Hoek Bay? These questions will be closely examined in the media as well as by locals and the authorities over the next few days.
What is a Whelk fishery.
The Whelk being targeted is the fat plough shell, Bullia laevissima. Many of us know a related species of `Bulia’ – the common sand ploughs that live on our beaches and crowd around and eat stranded jellyfish. The Bullia of interest to the experimental fishery is a rounder more `meaty’ version. The activity at the mouth of Fish Hoek Bay is part of a larger study for sites for a whelk fishery.
Apparently, the idea of the whelk fishery came about as a result of it being accidentally caught as a by-catch in crayfish traps. A number of years ago, fishermen tried to initiate a fishery based on these whelks which were offered at some restaurants as a local sea snail. South Africans did not take to it and the cost of exporting it to Europe where eating snails is gourmet was prohibitively expensive. This first initiative died, but has recently been revived – hence the white buoys off Fish Hoek Beach.
According to Zigzag.co.za Fishermen from the “Boy Johan” vessel have one of the few permits to catch whelk in the area and had set their nets late last night roughly 400 metres off Fish Hoek beach. The fishermen were unaware that the shark had become entangled in the net until they tried to haul it up early on Sunday morning.
Great White Shark Activity off Fish Hoek
Sarah Titley, the Shark Spotters Project Manager responded to a question about recent shark activity in relation to the whelk fishing activity as follows: ” The shark activity in Fish Hoek over the last month has been normal for this time of year, and exactly the same as the shark activity on other beaches, where there is no whelk fishing taking place. We have not seen a spike in activity since the fishing gear was installed.”
KimK
Photo taken by Brandon Kilbride
3 Comment
C.W., March 21, 2012 at 12:20 pm
We thank ‘Shark Spotters’ for their report, however suggesting that the shark involved was not attracted to the whelk bait is speculation.
Without data on sensory distances, currents and sea temperatures, such suggestions lead to dangerous confusion. The statement that “The bait in the hoops is not enough to attract the sharks from hundreds of meters away, but is enough to attract a shark swimming in the immediate area” leads to further questioning. Are we talking of the bait in one trap, or the collective volume of the “up to 15″ traps connected together?
There’s a big difference between single crayfish traps and connected arrays of these whelk traps.
What is clear however is that the DAFF must require such fishing be done in distances far in excess of 400 meters from popular swimming beaches. This practice needs to stop. Any further studies for viability need to be done in areas where there is little chance of bringing these animals so close to public swimming beaches.
Shark Spotters report: White shark caught in Fish Hoek Bay | The Scenic South, March 13, 2012 at 11:23 pm
[...] for more info and photo go to: https://scenicsouth.co.za//2012/03/great-white-shark-caught-off-fish-hoek-beach-11-march-2012/ [...]
Shark Spotters, March 13, 2012 at 11:01 pm
The following report was received from the Shark Spotters: White shark caught in experimental whelk fishing gear in Fish Hoek bay
At approximately 10.30 am on 11 March, Shark Spotters research manager, Alison Kock, was alerted by whelk fishermen operating in Fish Hoek bay that they had found a large white shark entangled in their fishing gear. By all accounts the animal was dead when found by the fishermen and as such any belief that the animal could have been released is false. Alison notified the relevant authorities from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and the Department of Environment Affairs (DEA) to ensure that all compliance protocols were adhered to with it being a protected species and assisted with arrangements to get the shark transported to shore in a whole state. The shark was towed to Simonstown harbour where the SA Navy, DEA and City of Cape Town’s Disaster Management teams were able to haul it out with a crane and transfer it onto a flatbed truck. The shark was taken to DEA’s storage facilities where it will be frozen until a necropsy can be done at a later stage. The shark was a large female measuring 4.3 m total length and weighing in at 886 kg. We had a look through our photographic catalogue of about 260 sharks to see if we could find a match, but so far we haven’t and have forwarded the ID photograph to colleagues in other areas.
According to fisheries scientists and the permit holder the experimental permit was issued by DAFF to explore the sustainability and practicality of whelk fishing in the area. ‘Whelk’ is the common name applied to marine gastropods, also known as sea snails. The fishing gear consists of hoop nets (approximately 1 meter in diameter) which are baited with fish like sardines and then deployed on the sea floor. The whelks, being scavengers, then follow the scent trail into the net where they are caught. The process is similar to crayfishing using crayfish nets. The difference with this system is that up to 15 hoop nets are connected together. The hoop nets are attached to surface marker buoys by rope and weighted with a 10 kg weight. The fishing gear is set overnight and in the morning the whelks are harvested from the nets. The shark appears to have become entangled in the ropes connected to the hoop net which form a bridle (allowing for stability when lifting the net so the whelks don’t fall out) and another line is connected to the bridle and surface marker buoy. The design that was used had excess rope and a large enough area under the bridle near the opening of the pot which allowed the shark to be able to get its head through while investigating it. What appears to have happened is that the shark became entangled in the lines and at this stage consensus with authorities and scientists is that it likely suffocated to death.
The experimental fishery first came to Shark Spotters and public attention about three weeks ago when the gear was deployed in Fish Hoek. Since that time the Spotters have recorded shark activity we consider normal for this time of year in Fish Hoek bay, which is similar to what we have recorded at Muizenberg during the same time period, and in Fish Hoek before the whelk fishing gear was deployed. We have not recorded any significant increase in shark sightings since the nets were deployed. The bait inside the hoops is not enough to attract a shark from hundreds of meters away, but is enough to attract a shark swimming in the immediate area. Given that white sharks, as apex predators are naturally very curious and their investigatory behaviour is well documented, the sharks would more than likely be attracted to the gear irrespective of what was inside.
This is undoubtedly a great loss of such a magnificent and rare animal and therefore the priority needs to be to ensure this doesn’t happen again. We formally asked the authorities and permit holder to investigate the matter and offered our assistance to them regards the fishing gear, its deployment and advice on areas of high shark activity that should be avoided. Earlier today we were invited by the permit holder to meet with him and the fishermen and DAFF authorities to discuss the way forward. It was clear that no-one wanted to see this happen again. The immediate steps that are to be taken following this meeting was to lift up all their gear, which the fishermen and authorities set off to do after the meeting, and then to make modifications to reduce the excess line near the opening of the pot to prevent a shark or another marine animal from sticking its head through or getting inside the net. Furthermore, the fishermen have decided not to continue working in Fish Hoek bay, and will be liaising with authorities and ourselves to avoid areas and times of high white shark activity.