Dear Portfolio Committee on Environment, Forestry and Fisheries,
I'm sure you are sick and tired of issues related to Perlemoen Poaching, as a matter of fact so are we. I reside in a small village, Kidd's Beach, just outside of East London. We often go for walks on the beach towards the Gulu River and continually notice perlemoen shells, off all sizes, scattered in the area about 1.5ks from Kidd's Beach.
Years ago the recreational diver could buy a permit and gather, by snorkeling only, four perlemoen per day, and to do so the person had to have a valid permit.and a size limit was required. The recreational diving for perlemoen was stopped in a bid to protect the species???? this in my view created a bigger problem as being experienced today.. Why not consider reintroducing the permit system so that the recreational diver can also have a little share of what is otherwise being raped from the sea. At least in this way one can get some funding along with the fishing licences.