We discovered from the Kariba Warden that fines ranging from $100 to $500 are being issued to poachers. Of all the fines issued, only about half have been paid. One particular poacher has been fined 50 times and has not paid any of these fines. Obviously the fines are not heavy enough to be a deterrent.

The poachers only need to catch four or five decent sized fish to cover the cost of the fine. Also nobody worries about being fined when they know they will not be forced to pay.

With regard to the difficulties National Parks are having with their boats, there is a problem obtaining fuel for the one boat which is operational. National Parks apply to the provincial office for a cheque for fuel but by the time all the paperwork is done and the cheque is ready, the fuel is no longer available. There has to be a better way of doing this. No patrols have been done down the Sanyati Gorge for six (6) months.

The poachers all know that National Parks only have one boat on the water, and this is one of the reasons the poaching problem is out of control. It is imperative that more boats are made operational because soon the word will spread that National Parks have several boats, and that knowledge alone will deter the poachers to a certain extent.

I visited various Kariba residents who are directly involved in the fishing industry and discovered the following information :-

Many Kapenta rigs have been caught netting fish in restricted breeding areas, for example down the rivers. They are given a small fine which is sometimes not paid, but in spite of this, when they go to renew their commercial fishing licence, they are granted without question.

The Kapenta rigs are netting other species of fish in addition to kapenta. They are packing tiger fish and bream into the bottom of the kapenta trays and then laying the kapenta on top so that it looks like the trays are full of kapenta. They then meet up with smaller boats at Antelope Island and offload the big fish into the smaller boats.

Police launches have been seen coming back to Chawara after doing patrols, and offloading fish into private and government vehicles.

The daughter of a prominent government official is known to be heavily involved in poaching activities. A Kariba resident reported a poacher to the police and when the police arrived, instead of arresting the poacher, they arrested the complainant upon the instructions of the daughter of the government official. There were no charges brought against him but he was imprisoned for several days.

It was difficult to get the Kariba residents to talk. Most of them refused because they are afraid of the consequences. The ones who did have the courage to give me information, only agreed to do so when I promised not to reveal their names.

On the game side, several wire snares have been found in the bush with animals trapped in them.