Senior inspector Stanley Dramat and honorary inspector E Ntwala of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment pictured with bags of abalone confiscated in the Gansbaai area on Tuesday 9 April. Sergeant Abigail Naidoo, spokesperson for the police in the Overberg District, stated the Fisheries Compliance Officers were on patrol when they received a report about bags of abalone that had been abandoned in shallow water between the rocks. “The bags were found to contain 609 whole abalone and 32 shucked abalone with an estimated value of R81 257,33. No arrests have been made in connection with the abandoned abalone.” In a separate incident, on Saturday 13 April, DFFE officials and members of Overstrand law enforcement’s K9 unit confiscated 1 567 shucked and 666 whole abalone worth an estimated R268 238 found abandoned at Fynbos, Franskraal.
