Mossel Bay great white hunter found guilty

south-africa-shark-flagMedia Statement

The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

04. February 2013

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The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) welcomes stiff sentence for great white shark

The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) welcomes the guilty verdict and stiff sentence handed down to Leon Bekker in the Mossel Bay Magistrate’s Court last Friday afternoon, 1 February 2013.

Bekker, who caught, landed and disturbed a great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) – a protected species on 11 March 2011 in the Mossel Bay area, was found guilty and fined R120 000 or months imprisonment, suspended for 5 years.

What makes this case so remarkable is the fact that this is the first great white shark case and conviction in any South African court as South Africa is also the first country to impose legislation in protecting Great White Sharks.

We are certain that the sentence will serve as a deterrent to anyone who contemplate catching or disturbing this or any other protected species and we will continue to rely on the public and other law-enforcement agencies to protect our marine resources and to arrest and prosecute anyone involved in this irresponsible crimes.

Source: DAFF

Note by SYM :

Please see the related previous posts

17. October 2011 Illegal Capture of Great White Shark in South Africa

01. November 2011 Fury on Facebook over great white exposé

 

 

5 Comments

  1. Angel

    This is good news.
    I was going through the older posts on this. Somehow I missed it before.
    It is not interesting to see killers are killers everywhere. The guy who fished this animal is a typical killer. The other who defended him are just prototypes of the same killer.
    They feel like real man with a hook and line.
    How pathetic…

    • Mark

      Hello Angel. It’s good news indeed. It frustrates me to no end on the idea of killing for sport. It is so popular where I live. Hunters go out in droves to kill deer and ducks. They will typically make some kind of sausage with it but the food source has nothing to do with survival. It’s all about killing. Sad sad sad. I say go hunt a bear with your hands. Go hunt a tiger with your hands. Go hunt your sharks with your hands. Of course not. They will lose everytime. These fools feel so enabled by the technology of a gun or bow and arrow. The rush they feel is so fake. They didn’t over power the animal. They cheated life out of something better than them. 

  2. Angel

    Actually it is a very good idea to fake the shark fins and put it in supply chain. That can make things very complicated… This may be the easiest and the fastest way to fight the shark fin trade…
    Great idea Mark, really great..

  3. Angel

    Opps, wrong commnet here. I am sorry, this way a comment on your basement fake production..
    Actually without our power of thought and related technological gadgets, we are a very weak being in the nature.
    Most of the animals have better adjusted survilal and hunting skills than us. They see and smell better, faster, stronger than us. Without our ability to innovate and share the knowledge, we are nothing than food for nature. But please keep in mind that we used the same power to wipe out entire human civilizations as well. And we still do as of today…

  4. Jul weet fokkol,die man maak ni di goed dood ni,hy vang hul net en neem foto van hul,hy word weer vry gelaat,!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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