Artisanal Fisheries in the Ndumo Area of the Lower Phongolo River Floodplain, South Africa

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the status of artisanal fisheries in the lower Phongolo River floodplain in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A cross-sectional quantitative survey design was used that included the development of a questionnaire and a systematic survey among the five villages bordering the Ndumo Game Reserve. Data were collected over a 5-day period by a group of 16 fieldworkers and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 21. The results revealed that fish was the third most consumed protein in the area, that people consumed fish on average twice a week, that at least six fish species (and one recently introduced crayfish species) were consumed regularly, and that most fish were obtained from local vendors, who in turn bought it from local fishermen and -women. Fishing activities also appeared to occur predominantly along the river system and targeted mainly red-breasted tilapia (Tilapia rendalli) and Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) and, to a slightly lesser extent, African sharptooth catfish (Clarias gariepinus) and brown squeaker (Synodontis zambezensis).Conservation implications: Given that Ndumo residents predominantly catch fish by means of non-commercial methods, that they do so for reasons of personal consumption and subsistence, and that they mostly target rivers and dams rather than the ecologically sensitive pans in the region, it would seem likely that fishing in the region might be sustainable for the moment. However, it is recommended that studies on the local fish populations and their reproductive rates be conducted so that the actual impact on local fish populations can be determined more accurately. This study serves to provide the necessary baseline data on fish utilisation in the region, which would enable the impact of artisanal fishing on fish reserves in the Ndumo region to be determined once population studies have been completed.

Spatial and temporal variation of invertebrate community structure in flood-controlled tropical floodplain wetlands

“…The function of zooplankton and macroinvertebrates as a food source in the food web structure (Medeiros & Arthington 2008) is crucial to higher trophic feeders especially birds that are unique to this floodplain (Whittington et al 2013) and fish that are a source of protein to the local communities (Coetzee et al 2015). Therefore, effective fisheries management and biodiversity conservation in the Phongolo floodplain should account for fish-invertebrate and resource-invertebrate linkages.…”

Distribution and establishment of the alien Australian redclaw crayfish,Cherax quadricarinatus, in South Africa and Swaziland

“…Although P. clarkii has been introduced to several African countries and caused visible impacts (Lowery & Mendes, 1977; Mikkola, 1996; Foster & Harper, 2006), in South Africa the species is only known from a single locality and does not seem to be spreading (Nunes et al, 2017). Populations of C. quadricarinatus are more widespread in the country (Du Preez & Smit, 2013; Van Rooyen, 2013; Coetzee et al, 2015; De Villiers, 2015) and have also been reported from Swaziland (De Moor, 2002), Zimbabwe (Marufu, Phiri & Nhiwatiwa, 2014), Zambia and Mozambique (Chivambo, Nerantzoulis & Mussagy, 2013; Nunes et al, 2016). Globally, C. quadricarinatus has been translocated to non-native areas in Australia (Doupé et al, 2004; Leland, Coughran & Furse, 2012) and Indonesian territories (Patoka et al, 2016), and wild populations are also known from Israel (Snovsky & Galil, 2011), Jamaica (Todd, 2005; Pienkowski et al, 2015), Mexico (Bortolini, Alvarez & Rodriguez-Almaraz, 2007; Vega-Villasante et al, 2015; Torres-Montoya et al, 2016), Puerto Rico (Williams et al, 2001), Singapore (Ahyong & Yeo, 2007; Belle et al, 2011) and Slovenia (Jaklič & Vrezec, 2011).…”

Peer Review #1 of "Distribution and establishment of the alien Australian redclaw crayfish, Cherax quadricarinatus, in South Africa and Swaziland (v0.1)"

“…Manuscript to be reviewed started harvesting it (Coetzee et al, 2015), increasing the risk of translocations for commercial reasons. The possible introduction of this species into new catchments in Africa is a matter of extreme concern, especially given the high speed at which the species has been expanding and its potential impacts on native biota, such as disease introductions, competitive interactions with native freshwater crustaceans or habitat modifications (de Moor, 2002;Nunes et al, 2016).…”

“…Populations of C. quadricarinatus are more widespread in the country (du Preez & Smit, 2013;van Rooyen, 2013;Coetzee et al, 2015;de Villiers, 2015) and have also been reported from Swaziland (de Moor, 2002), Zimbabwe (Marufu, Phiri & Nhiwatiwa, 2014), Zambia and Mozambique (Chivambo, Nerantzoulis & Mussagy, 2013;Nunes et al, 2016). Globally, C. quadricarinatus has been translocated to non-native areas in Australia (Doupé et al, 2004;Leland, Coughran & Furse, 2012) and Indonesian territories (Patoka et al, 2016), and wild populations are also known from Israel (Snovsky & Galil, 2011), Jamaica (Todd, 2005;Pienkowski et al, 2015), Mexico (Bortolini, Alvarez & Rodriguez-Almaraz, 2007;Vega-Villasante et al, 2015;Torres-Montoya et al, 2016), Puerto Rico (Williams et al, 2001), Singapore (Ahyong & Yeo, 2007;Belle et al, 2011) and Slovenia (Jaklič & Vrezec, 2011).…”