News

Illegal harvesting of sea cucumbers investigated

September 10, 2021 12:25 pm

The illegal harvesting of beche-de-mer or sea cucumbers has once again come under the spotlight.

A group of people from the West particularly Ba and Tavua are now under investigation after they were caught harvesting sea cucumbers and fishing in taboo grounds.

Fisheries Director, Neomai Ravitu says they confiscated tonnes of beche-de-mer earlier this week.

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“Particularly there’s a group of fishers, they are traveling to Tailevu area and they’re coming from Ba and Tavua. So these are the ones we’re concerned about.” Refrain from any alleged illegal harvest of this particular commodity because we’re still under the current ban that is still in existence.”

The group was caught on Tuesday morning by a Village Head from Verata, Tailevu.

A fact-finding exercise is now being carried out by the Fisheries Ministry.

Companies caught illegally harvesting beche-de-mer can be fined a maximum of $20,000 and individuals face a $10,000 fine.