Wednesday 9th May 2001
We set off in a houseboat which had very kindly been loaned to us. For security reasons we are unable to mention name, but we are very greatful to the houseboat owner, whose only stipulation was that we replaced any fuel that we used.
We arrived at Tashinga at 4.00 pm and had a meeting with the warden to organise National Parks personnel for the operation the next morning. We found the warden and the National Parks Staff very helpful. We had previously requested an inventory of all equipment and boats which was done promptly by them. The inventory dated 1st April was left at National Parks Kariba with instructions for it to be faxed through to us, but the fax was never sent. Obviously there is no co operation between Kariba and the provincial wardens.
We supplied the Tashinga warden with fibre glass matting, resin and catalyst to repair a Sportster which they have there so that we could get it across to Kariba and then to Harare for repairs. We asked the Tashinga Warden to bring another boat which they have there to Harare for repairs. We checked all their equipment and found that they have plenty of motors, many of which have been cannibalised, but most of which can be repaired. We brought three of them back to Harare. A Sportster belonging to National Parks was sent to Paynes Boatworks 14 years ago. We promised the Warden that would pay the $38 000.00 and send the boat up to him by 18th May 2001. The staff at Tashinga were very eager to carry out their duties, providing hey have the fuel to do so.

Thursday 10th May 2001
At 3 am we went down the Umi and lay in ambush with 4 task force members and 4 National Parks personnel to await the poachers arrival, but nothing happened, so at 5.30 am we did a physical patrol down the Umi. As we approached an island we found a poachers camp there. We arrested 8 poachers, impounded 4 boats and recovered 10 nets. In the camp we confiscated between 5 and 6 tonnes of fish, a 90 kg bag full of tiger roe and 8 bags of salt. We destroyed the camp and impounded all the equipment. We had to call a National Parks boat to come and help us transport everything. They had no fuel so we had to assist them with some. In the camp we found a 6 cubic foot cooler box containing some ice which showed that this was an efficiently run camp. There is no way the poachers could have received supplies or despatched this quantity of fish without the help of a big rig. We radioed the 2 IC to come and see what we had found. The branches of the trees on the island were bright orange with tiger roe which was hanging from the branches to dry as there are still a lot of tiger spawning this time of year.
We handed the confiscated goods including the fish to National Parks and each poacher was fined $1000.00 plus $5 000.00 per boat, which they have to pay in order to retrieve their boats. I spoke to the poachers in Shona and they claim that they are making $30 000.00 per poaching trip. Assuming they do 2 trips per week they are making in the region of $240 000.00 per month, which means that it is a very lucrative business. The poachers have permits to net fish on a commercial basis but they persist in fishing in the restricted spawning areas. We issued Tashinga with 40 litres of fuel to enable to get the Sportster to Kariba and we collected the 3 engines.

Friday 11th May 2001
We proceeded to the Sanyati Gorge. At 5.00 am we collected 2 National Parks staff and did a patrol down the gorge. On the way down we couldn't see any sign of poachers camps or fires. At the end of the gorge we turned around and came back, this time searching for tell tale signs of underwater nets. We found one which led to the discovery of another 6 which were stretched in a zig zag fashion right across the Sanyati River. One of the Nets was brand new. Near the bank where the nets were tied down we found hidden boats and then we saw that the poachers were further up the mountain than they had previously been. We couldn't catch them because they ran up the mountain as soon as they saw us, but we destroyed the camp and sank three boats. We proceeded to the second cross roads where we sank six boats and found some camps which had been abandoned. We were not able to patrol the Gache Gache or Naodza rivers due to lack of fuel and the uncooperative attitude of the Warden at Peters Point. On Friday night we witnessed 5 Kapenta rigs trawling and netting in restricted areas in Charara. We discovered that the rigs belonged to a company called Prime Fisheries. Something definitely needs to be done about this. A couple of weeks prior to our patrol, the second in charge at National Parks approached one of the rigs but was chased by the rig. In order to avoid being rammed the national Parks official fired shots into the pontoons. He is now being charged with attempted murder, and a report is being sent to the Attorney General to see if they can charge him with manslaughter. Kapenta rigs such as these should be impounded because the damage they are doing to the tiger and spawning Kapenta is enormous. Why are they allowed to fish there and why have their licences not been confiscate or their rigs impounded?

Saturday 12th May 2001
We had a meeting with the ratepayers of Charara and found that they are very concerned about the poaching, not only in the water but on the land as well. Apparently the bush is full of wire snares which have been put there to trap the animals.
We then went to Peters point to pick up the Sportster and we spoke to the warden. We had previously instructed him to load the Sportster on to a trailer for us, but he had failed to carry out our instructions so we did it ourselves. We hitched up the boat, loaded some propellers which need repairing and returned to Harare.