Kingfish attack behaviour filmed in the Umzimkulu
Right off the bat, kingfish, of all their species, are really endangered. We do not kill any. We tag as many as we can. We work with the Oceanographic Research Institute with the goal of tagging fish to gather data about them. To use for conservation.
Current laws are far too broad and vague. We need systemic conservation measures applied to fish as and when they need it. based on data. But as the kingfish numbers diminish with over-fishing by recreationals and subsistence fishers alike, one thing is clear. The remaining few are very hard to catch!
They are so fast and intelligent. In these clips you can actually see the fish learn that something is up with that white lure! The first two strikes are at blistering speed, one after the other. How they never hooked up can only be attested to fortune since we have been catching so many of the exact same kingfish with it over the past few weeks. Then they are all a lot more timid. They come in close, following and inspecting right up close. But after those first two lighting strikes went awry, the entire gang, about 12 or more, of them, stayed back. And eventually peeled off completely.
What a dogfight! Again and again…literally fighting over the lure.
The perspectives from underwater are insane! The action is red hot high speed ultra violent powerful stuff and its got me addicted! All I want to to do now is film fish now!
Catch 22
There is a huge Catch 22 to this revolutionary technology however. Since I posted a few videos of the results of the exercise, boats began pitching up all over the Umzimkulu. The regulars. They release every fish too. And a whole host of new boats. That we just don’t know about yet. And I can only hope the new guys take note of the dire situation these fish are in. They have only a few functioning estuaries left. The rest have been destroyed by agriculture and erosion.
Just as a precautionary note: the crystal clear winter water of the Umzimkulu right now, hold a dark secret. There are still suspect activities occurring upriver. Some incredible stenches waft down from the sugar mill. And if you drive that area, the dirt road along the river, some very strange and stinking glowing substances can be discovered. Leaking right into the river! And a whole area of the riverbank is fenced off with razor-wire. What could be hiding in there? Toxic waste? Some answers from the sugar mill people would be pertinent right now. Since the sugar mill people also dumped a damn full of poisonous non oxygenated water into the river recently, killing off a huge amount of fish too. Just another reason to not eat the fish that come out of the river!
Lastly, it is really being optimistic to think that this technology will not be applied by poachers and other criminals too. To see what is down there! Just like we are trying to do!
And so, extra vigilance is required when monitoring our rivers for illegal activities. Poachers have been using nets in the KZN estuaries for a while now. Wreaking havoc in the Umkomaas. Where luckily local anglers and conservationists are conducting an active campaign against this illicit criminal behaviour. They have burned many, many kilometres of nets already.
Imagine our rare and endangered shoal of greenspot all get caught in a friggin’ net upriver!?
Please get in touch if you would like to join us fishing the season away in the Umzimkulu Estuary. We are based at the Umzimkulu Marina this year. And we offer many options for you or your family to partake. We are even running fishing school at the moment.
So please get in touch for anything fishing. Estuary, surf or deep-sea. On +27793269671 or umzimkulu@gmail.com.
We are on Facebook at http://facebook.com/thesardine.co.za/. We run a action-packed YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/umzimkulu1/.
You can order your very own GoFish Camera right here…it comes in a few days to a week and is endless fun and learning. If you buy it from this website, you can call me for support anytime – Sean
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Post by The Sardine News
