Authorities say the illegal trade of crayfish at the Hibberdene offramp on the N2 continues to operate as motorists stop to buy.
Motorists who pull over at the N2 Hibberdene off-ramp on KwaZulu-Natal’s south coast to buy crayfish from roadside sellers are directly sustaining an illegal trade that authorities say has been running for decades.
Officials warn that the only real way to shut it down is to stop the demand.
The Coastal Marine Task Force (CMTF), a volunteer organisation working alongside environmental stakeholders to protect coastal biodiversity, says the illegal crayfish trade is not a casual roadside operation but a tightly organised network.
“This topic, understandably, keeps coming up, and as role players in coastline management, it is regularly directed towards us for answers. We have attempted to tackle this challenge head-on, but it is a complex issue that has existed for decades,” a CMTF spokesman said.
