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Illegal importation of grass carp, man arrested
August 23, 2011 | 
Author Beeld reported this morning that a man was arrested because of the illegal import and distribution of Chinese grass carp. I translated the original article for our English readers.
A man appeared in court because of the illegal import of Chinese grass carp. He sold and released some of the fish into local farm dams.
Mr. Deon Erasmus (43), a resident of Pretoria was arrested in the region of Middelburg Mpumalanga, while releasing the fish into a local dam.
Mr. Francois Roux, aquatic scientist of the Mpumalanga park and tourism agency (MPTA), stated that Chinese grass carp released in local rivers and dams can be devastating to ecosystems.
The MPTA themselves use Chinese grass carp as biological control agents to manage water grass, but they do so with strict controls in place. The Chinese grass carp used by government are sterile and can therefore not breed naturally.
Roux stated that grass carp released within local water systems can cause an ecological disaster. One fish can eat the equivalent of its body weight, some fish weighing up to 40 kg.
Roux and members of the police was informed of a man from Pretoria that imported grass carp from Israel, apparently he sold the fish for R50.00 per fish to local farmers. The MPTA sell sterile grass carp equipped with microchips at R150.00 per fish.
The police confiscated 155 grass carp and the containers they were transported with.
Erasmus was released on bail of R1000.00 and will appear in court on 23 September
You can read the original article as written by Beeld here
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When it’s not going according to plan
Our last few fishing trips didn’t work out as planned and I blanked quite a few times. So the past weekend it was back to the drawing board and I decided to focus on one particular venue. Saturday morning I met Willem at Roodeplaat dam and rigged up with the usual carp bait. Unfortunately fishing is one of those sports that can become really frustrating at times and you just have to persist with the tried and tested methods or work out where to improve your game. With the morning not producing any fish we decided to be pro active and practice our casting techniques. Lately I’ve been holding my rod above my head instead of to the right in order to improve my accuracy. This technique works great and with the improved distance reached by changing to a thinner 10lbs main line, I should one of these days hook into a few fish again.
We should also consider that we have been fishing during very cold conditions and that techniques followed in warmer seasons do not necissarily work during the colder months. For instance, the past weekend it snowed in the South of South Africa causing water tempreatures to drop considerably. With the colder conditions our ground feed didn’t bliss as it was perhaps supposed to and hook baits stayed on longer. When you are struggeling to catch any fish you should always consider all the factors and attempt to improve where you are lacking in skill, take the time , really think about what you are doing wrong and keep on trying.
