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The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, has welcomed the sentencing of a Mossel Bay man for catching a great white shark.
Resident Leon Bekker was fined a whopping R120 000 or six months imprisonment for illegally catching a great white.
His sentence was suspended for five years.
Department spokesperson, Lionel Adendorf, says this is the first great white shark case and conviction in any South African court.
He says South Africa is the first country to impose legislation in protecting Great White Sharks.
"We are certain that the sentence will serve as a deterrent to anyone who contemplate catching or disturbing this or any other protected species and we will continue to rely on the public and other law-enforcement agencies to protect our marine resources and to arrest and prosecute anyone involved in these irresponsible crimes," Adendorf said.
