Perlemoen poacher drowns
2012-10-26 00:02
Johannesburg - A perlemoen (abalone) poacher drowned when fisheries officers tried to arrest him off the coast of Hermanus on Thursday morning, the Western Cape fisheries department said.
Officers patrolling on jet-skis found three men diving for abalone near Breakfast Bay around 11:00 spokesperson Lionel Adendorf said in a statement.
One of the poachers swam for the shore while the other two made for deeper waters, about 80m from the shore. One of them got into trouble and lost consciousness. His friend tried to help him but gave up and also swam to safety.
The unconscious man was pulled from the water into an NSRI rescue craft. Paramedics tried, but failed, to revive him. The other two were arrested after they were found not to have diving permits. The bags they had with them were abandoned in the water.
In two other abalone busts, two people were arrested and about 8 600 perlemoen confiscated.
A man and woman were caught on the N2 near Grabouw around 06:00 on Thursday following a tip-off from a resident, Adendorf said. A total of 3 768 units of perlemoen were found in their BMW.
On Wednesday around 23:00 4 901 units of abalone were found in Nissan bakkie that was stopped in Blompark, Gansbaai. The driver ran away.
- SAPA
