As part of this project thousands of full-colour posters illustrating declared water weeds are distributed countrywide. In addition to the posters, Eko-Care has printed pamphlets illustrating the Big Bad Five. These informative pamphlets are distributed with the Eco-Kleen litter bags. Tight Lines , the oldest and most distinguished angling magazine in South Africa, serves as the mouthpiece of Eko-Care. The use of illegal gill nets is still an immense problem on South Africa's dams.
Gill nets pose a threat to conservation as indigenous and scarce fish species are targeted.
We have found that even a very common fish species, the blue kurper, has drastically declined in numbers over the past few years in certain dams like Hartbeespoort Dam. The main factors responsible for this decline are low water levels, exceptionally cold winters, water pollution, diminishing natural ecosystems, and gill nets of up to 1km l ong that have been found in the Hartbeespoort Dam. Another indigenous fish species that is also under tremendous threat is the yellow fish. Some species such as the bigmouth yellow fish only starts reproducing after about seven years. We simply cannot afford to lose this exquisite species because of over-exploitation.