Poacher killed by great white shark

A poacher in South Africa has been eaten by a great white shark during an illegal fishing trip. Khanyisile Momoza, 29, was attacked as he harvested valuable perlemoen shells in the waters near Gansbaai in South Africa. The fisherman was among a group of 12 poachers who had tried to swim to safety after spotting the shark in shallow waters. A friend of Mr Momoza, who witnessed the attack, said: "There was screaming and crying. We just swam, we didn't look back. We were swimming in a group but he was a bit behind us.

"It jumped out of the water with him and then it took him down." The attack took place on Tuesday between Dyer Island and Pearly Beach, east of Cape Town. In an interview, the victim's friend told how the poaching group had left the beach at 6am and swum for two hours before reaching the island three miles offshore, where they began hunting for perlemoen shellfish. The men were swimming back to shore with their catch when the great white approached.



The survivors admitted they had been too scared for their own lives to help the stricken swimmer and raced back to dry land. Once ashore the group alerted authorities to the tragedy. Illegal harvesting of perlemoen is big business in South Africa, where the valuable shellfish are common along coastal areas. The molluscs' fleshy insides are considered a delicacy similar to oysters, and either served raw or cooked in seafood dishes.

But widespread farming of the shells has sparked fears the population could plummet. In 2007 South African authorities listed the species, also known as abalone, as endangered with the global wildlife protection body CITES. The restrictions were loosened in July this year, although it remains illegal to harvest perlemeon without a licence. However hundreds of local fishermen are believed to continue to work in the illegal trade. Many poor workers risk arrest or injury to hunt for the wild shells, whose meat can be worth up to £25 a kilo.