Down the years, dodgy fishermen’s activities’ have necessitated taking a radical step by using freely available modern technology i.e. cell phone cameras. Inspired by the SA Special Forces League’s website http://www.recce.co.za/wall-of-shame-1, the mechanism was duly set up and the press release shown below was published in September 2012;
“Lamentably, it has come to our attention that there are unethical fishermen who make use of the fishing opportunities in the area but do so without permission on non-members waters or valid WTA day permits for association member’s water. Being valid for one day only, others have the temerity of buying a day permit and then “using” it for the rest of their fishing trip. Such behaviour is an abuse the generosity of riparian owners in a rural community renowned for its fine hospitality and denies the WTA and our riparian members of the due revenue.
Modern technology, being what it is, has provided us with a great opportunity for exposing the activities of such folk. Members have consequently been asked to make a point of inspecting vehicles parked on their or their neighbor’s property in order to establish whether a valid day permit has been placed on the dashboard as this is the standard practice required of all permit holders.
In the absence of a valid day permit, members have been asked to use their cell phones to take 3 images; one of the permit-less or invalid permit on the dashboard, one of the vehicle’s number plate and one from further away to substantiate the context i.e. where the vehicle was parked. Day permits may then be checked against the vehicle registration number to establish whether the owner/driver had in fact purchased a day permit but had forgotten to comply with display instructions..
If no record of the day permit sale can be found, the images will be published on the WTA’s website where a dedicated page has been established headed “Wall of Shame”, inspired by sites such as http://www.recce.co.za/wall-of-shame-1, http://www.wall-of-shame.com/ and many others of a similar nature out there. Should the name of the offender be established, this will be added to the entry.
Images of the offender’s vehicle (and name, if established) will remain on the site until such time as a written apology is received as well as payment of the outstanding day permit fee/s. Should the culprit re-offend, images will be left on the Wall of Shame permanently”.
A fairly immediate result was that two young men – who shall remain nameless – appeared at Walkerbouts to pay for their illegal fishing activities in years gone by. Unfortunately, they couldn’t remember which beats they had fished nonetheless, the WTA became R1100,00 richer for their twinges of conscience. Admirable behaviour and gladly received!
Apart from twinges of conscience, the beauty of the WTA permit system is that vehicle registration numbers are recorded on the day permit together with the date and purchasers details. It is therefore very easy to establish if an unknown vehicle found on a farm or near trouting is there legally. In addition, having a record of the vehicle number also allows us to establish the legality even if the permit purchaser has forgotten to place the permit on the dashboard as requested
An additional advantage is that the system allows landowners to check without confrontation that platteland hospitality decries. It is therefore a painless procedure designed to create maximum embarrassment for the perpetrator.
Empty Dashboard \ Location of Vehicle \ Numberplate
Taken by legal permit holders on 12-5-2019
Envelope together with R500 that appeared anonymously at Walkerbouts recently: “Conscience money”!
