December 2009 Monthly Report
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March 2012 MONTHLY REPORT Compliance Management Roland and Stefan checked 39 recreational fishing and bait collectors permits during March. Of the 39 permits checked 5 did not have valid permits on them and were given friendly warnings. There were no fines issued this month however all three rangers attended a peace officers course at the Goukamma Marine Protected Area. The peace officers course was held on the 27th, 28th and 29th and presented by Dr. FJW Herbig. As it currently stands, the rangers cannot issue any J534 fines as they do not have those powers. If the rangers encounter any serious offences, Dept. of Fisheries has to be contacted in Mossel Bay to come out and write the necessary fines. This often takes a while, complicating the fining process. Once the rangers have received their certificates, they need to apply to be appointed as peace officers by the Station Commander at the nearest Police Station. They then need to approach Dept. of Fisheries to be appointed as Fisheries Control Officers, that can enforce the Marine Living Resources Act. Once this has been completed the rangers will have the powers to fine people on the spot for any contraventions of the Marine Living Resources Act. On the 30th, the rangers attended a one day self defense course. The instructor focused on key elements during a confrontational situation and how one can deal with them in the best manner. A big thank you to Wayne Meyer (Ex Fransmanshoek Senior Ranger), who now works at Goukamma Marine Protected Area, for organizing both short courses mainly for the Cape Nature staff but managed to slot the Fransmanshoek Conservancy rangers in the program. Voelvlei Vroue Landbou Unie On the 7th Roland attended the VVLU Annual General Meeting in order to give a presentation about the value and importance of healthy river systems and wetlands. Roland was asked approximately six months prior to the meeting to do a talk on Oystercatchers. Roland requested that the topic be changed as every year the same presentation was being delivered and Oystercatchers were surely starting to get a little bit tiring. The ladies agreed, and Roland started preparing. As it was their AGM, representatives from all over the southern Cape were present making up an audience of approximately 100 ladies. Roland spoke to the ladies for about 20-30min highlighting the threats posed to wetlands and river systems, but at the same time understanding that there needs to be a balance between utilization and protection. As many of the women present were farmers wives, Roland tried to make the topics discussed relevant to the threats agriculture pose on wetlands, as well as highlighting possible alternatives to the threats. The ladies seemed to enjoy the information that was shared, and Roland left with a large parcel of goodies. Pinnacle Point Student Rangers Visit FMH On the 8th, Roland, Stefan and Marcel hosted the new student rangers and community rangers from Pinnacle Point’s Conservation Trust. The idea was to educate the new staff at Pinnacle Point as to what duties are carried out by the rangers on a regular coastal foot patrol. Marcel conducted a roving creel survey at the same time to give them an idea as to the basics of collecting roving creel data. As the Pinnacle point staff do not work on weekends, a weekday had to be organized to do the patrol. Everyone met at the Cape Vacca parking lot, and headed off toward Fransmanshoek. Chris-Marie Dorfling, was unfortunately suffering from a medical condition and therefore missed the walk, but offered to drive to the other side in order to fetch the group at the end. Removing litter from the beach is one of the rangers duties and Roland took the opportunity of so many hands to get a serious amount of litter removed. Along the walk, the Pinnacle Point rangers were also shown how to collect SOB data, Oystercatcher breeding success data and conduct roving creel interviews. Roland took the time to share information and knowledge of tides, sea conditions, fishing legislation and marine legislation along the walk as well. The first batch of litter collected on the patrol, all these bags were collected between Cape Vacca parking lot and the Cape Vacca point house. Three more sections of beach between Kanon and Fransmanshoek were also cleared. Weeds Forum On the 9th, Roland, Stefan and Marcel attended the Weeds Forum near Albertinia. The forum seeks to create a platform where private landowners, conservation bodies and government bodies can communicate over issues arising from alien and invasive vegetation. Landowners are faced by legislation that imposes on them the expensive task of having to remove certain category invasive plants from their property and having a forum where information and experience can be shared, often helps. This time the forum was hosted by Andre and Elaine Du Preez on their farm, Eagles Rest, just outside of Albertinia. The day started off with a presentation by Fiona Impson from the Plant Protection Research Institute. The presentation specifically focused on biological control agents, including aspects such as the history of biological control agents, the processes followed, reasons for release, public opinion and future of biological control agent programs. To clarify, a biological control agent is often an insect from the native country of an invasive plant, that has been brought to the country where the invasive plant is a problem, in order to assist with the control and eradication of the problem plant. The topic is still indeed controversial even though close to 100 biological control agents have been released in South Africa to curb the spread of invasive vegetation. The control agents go through rigorous testing (often for years) and be kept in quarantine until approval has been given for their release. Even so, the risk of problems arising later on is still present, however South Africa has to date no record of any negative effect or problems arising from any released biological control agents. Andres wife then gave a background to the alien vegetation management on the farm, after which the rangers had to unfortunately leave (as they had to get back to Kleinbos for their first management meeting of the year). Those who attended were then shown around Eagles Rest in order to visually see the changes that were spoken of. Eagles Rest lies in fossil dunes that are naturally covered with dune and limestone fynbos. The farm was heavily infested with Port Jackson and Rooikranz. The Du Preez’ have tried various methods from bulldozing to custom built bossi-kappers, and have managed rid their farm of the two species of invasive plants for the most part. Water has returned with a number of wetlands becoming functional again, however the area has not been rehabilitated toward the originally occurring fynbos, rather kweek (Cynodon dactylon) grazing lands have been created or thatching reed (Thamnochortus insignis) lands. So while the invasive acacia trees have been removed, the land has been utilized for agronomic purposes rather than biodiversity. Dolphin Stranding On the 12th, Roland received a report of a dolphin that had washed out at Boggomsbaai. On the 13th the rangers went to sample the carcass and take photos and GPS points. As per protocol Roland contacted Mike Meyer (Head of Marine Mammals for the Dept. of Fisheries), informing him of the stranding. Roland showed the student rangers where skin samples were to be taken from, and what basic measurements to take. All the data has been sent to Mike and his team, while the skin samples will be picked up the next time anyone from Fisheries is coming past. The dolphin was a striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), which makes an interesting find as they rarely come close to the shore. Striped dolphins mainly occur in the Indian Ocean, off the south east coast of South Africa, in deeper waters mainly off the edge of the continental shelf. Like most dolphins it feeds mainly on fish and squid. Roland busy removing a skin sample from the stranded Striped Dolphin. Sourfig Experimental Plots Springerbaai For two years now some speculation has arisen within Springerbaai so as what to do with the increase in ground cover by sourfig (Carpobrotus deliciosus and C. edulis). Springerbaai consists of some relatively pristine dune vegetation together with some remnant patches of Herbertsdale Renoster/Thicket, while the rest is made up of fallow agriculture lands. On a small piece of these fallow lands some reseeding of pioneer species such as bietou (Osteospermum monilifera) has been attempted by Fred Orban with limited success, however up until now no monitoring has been done to measure the rate of recovery, if any. Mainly in these fallow lands and where rehabilitation was attempted, sourfig has formed large mats, seemingly taking over. While this may just be a step in the vegetation succession that needs to take place, it is also possible that sourfig is limiting and outcompeting any other indigenous renoster/thicket species from establishing. In order to determine the best management action for the perceived problem, the conservancy has set up three study blocks. Each block will receive a different treatment while re-growth and succession will be monitored. The third treatment, being the use of a strong herbicide, is still in debate. The idea of spraying hundreds of liters of poison is possibly not the best idea, even if it is effective in killing Sourfig. The second treatment is the physical removal of the sourfig. This treatment was carried out from the 13th to the 19th of March by Steven Prins and his team together with the rangers.