Exploitation and conservation of angling fish in two South African estuaries

Abstract

1. Recreational and subsistence angling in South African estuaries is a small, but relevant, sector of South Africa's diverse coastal fisheries. This paper reviews these fisheries and their effects in two estuaries. 2. The composition of angler's catches in two large Eastern Cape Province estuaries has hardly changed over a period of nearly 20 years. 3. Gill‐net catches (in terms of CPUE) indicate a decline in the abundance of the most popular angling fish species, especially the spotted grunter Pomadasys commersonnii. 4. Regular freshwater inputs into estuaries are required to ensure a salinity gradient which is crucial for the maintenance of an abundant and diverse estuarine ichthyofaunal assemblage. 5. Present management and conservation policies are poorly defined, and the philosophy and principles of ecosystem preservation, rather than that of species preservation, should be seriously considered. © 1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Assessment of the recreational linefishery in selected Eastern Cape estuaries: trends in catches and effort

“…The mean weekday count was similar to the 7 anglers count -1 reported by Baird et al (1996) for the Sundays Estuary during the period 1992-1993, but the mean weekend count was almost half that reported in the previous study (22.9 v. 43 anglers count -1 ). Baird et al (1996) also reported substantially higher angling pressure on the Swartkops Estuary during that period (46 anglers weekday count -1 , 148 anglers weekend count -1 ), which indicates that the Swartkops estuary is undoubtably the most utilized estuary (for angling) in the present study area (Kromme Estuary to Great Fish Estuary). Proximity to large urban areas undoubtably plays a major role in the popularity of an angling venue, and estuaries that situated closer to such areas generally experience higher levels of angling effort (Baird et al 1996, Brouwer et al 1997.…”

“…As noted previously, angling effort was much higher over weekends than during the week (Joubert 1981, Clark and Buxton 1989, Baird et al 1996, Brouwer et al 1997. Shore-based angling was more popular (59% of all anglers counted) than boat-based angling in all the estuaries studied, with the exception of the Kromme (43%), Gamtoos (36%) and Sundays estuaries (46%).…”

“…Research on the South African estuarine linefishery is even more limited, with the only published analysis on this fishery being restricted to the work by Marais and Baird (1980a) and Baird et al (1996) on the Swartkops and Sundays estuaries in the Eastern Cape, and an analysis of the Durban Bay linefishery in KwaZulu-Natal by Guastella (1994). Unpublished literature on the estuarine linefishery includes an assessment of the St Lucia Lake system fishery in KwaZulu-Natal (Mann 1994), and by Daniel (1994) and Pradervand (1999a), both dealing with sectors of the Eastern Cape estuarine linefishery.…”

Assessment of the Linefishery in Two Urban Estuarine Systems In Kwazulu-natal, South Africa

“…There is limited information on the linefishery for some of the larger estuarine systems in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal (Marais and Baird 1980, Guastella 1994, Baird et al 1996, James et al 2001, Pradervand and Baird 2002, Mann et al 2002. Those studies focussed primarily on the determination of catch, with little attention being given to the quantification of angling effort, socio-economics or anglers' attitudes towards fishery regulations.…”

The recreational fishery in the Kosi estuarine lake system, South Africa

“…In both Durban Harbour and St Lucia, P. commersonnii made up a large percentage of catches (Gaustella 1994;Mann 1994), and in all three systems they contribute more than 20 % of the total catch. In the less species diverse Sundays and Swartkops estuaries in the Eastern Cape, P. commersonnii and the dusky kob (A. japonicus) comprised significant proportions of the recreational catch, and together these two species accounted for about 90 % of anglers catches (Baird et al 1996).…”