Preliminary report: trends in fishery resource utilisation on the Great Fish Estuary

Fisheries reosurce utilisation in Great Fish Estuary, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

This preliminary report compares a resource utilisation survey of the Great Fish Estuary, located in the Eastern Cape Province conducted in the 2001/2002 with the first six months of an ongoing year-long study, conducted between October 2003 and March 2004. During interviews with resource users, demographic information as well as catch, effort, bait, duration of fishing trip and number of rods/lines was obtained.

Findings include:

subsistence fishers (59%) dominated during the first study period, while recreational fishers (54%) dominated during the second study period. There was a considerable increase in the number of recreational boat fishers from the first (5%) to the second study (22%). These differences were partly attributed to the increased sampling on weekend days during the second study and also due to the improved infrastructure at the Fish River Diner Caravan Park.
although the catch composition was similar during both study periods, the overall catch per unit effort was lower during the second (0.16 fish/angler-hour) than during the first (0.22 fish/angler-hour) study period. The distribution of fishing effort was more widespread during the second study period than in the first. Despite its six month duration, the total fishing effort during the second study period was higher (69 888 hrs) and the total catch was only one third lower (9182 fish) than in the first study period (60 436 hrs, 12 752 fish, respectively).
while the study showed a variety of short-term fluctuations, long term monitoring studies are recommended to examine trends in this and other estuarine fisheries in South Africa.

[adapted from authors' abstract]

Related content

Document
Sustainable water management for resilience to climate change impact on society in South Africa (SUWAM)
H. Helness / SINTEF, 2017
The report presents the key findings from the project Sustainable water management for resilience to climate change impact on society in South Africa. The project was carried out as a collaboration between SINTEF and Stellenbosch University, with Hessequa Municipality as a partner.
Document
Reflections on the formulation and implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management in Southern and Eastern Africa from a gender perspective
B. Derman, Preetha Prabhakaran / Water Alternatives, 2016
While it is claimed that the founding principles of integrated water resources management are the Dublin Principles this does not appear to be the case for Principle No. 3, which underlines the importance of women in water provision, management and safeguarding.
Document
The 'Trickle Down' of Integrated Water Resources Management: a case study of local-level realities in the Inkomati Water Management Area, South Africa
Kristi Denby / Water Alternatives, 2016
The historical legacy in South Africa of apartheid and the resulting discriminatory policies and power imbalances are critical to understanding how water is managed and allocated, and how people participate in designated wa
Document
Emergence, interpretations and translations of IWRM in South Africa
Synne Movik / Water Alternatives, 2016
South Africa is often regarded to be at the forefront of water reform, based on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) ideas. This paper explores how the idea of IWRM emerged in South Africa, its key debates and interpretations and how it has been translated.
Document
Introduction to the special Issue: Flows and practices: the politics of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Southern Africa
Lyla Mehta / Water Alternatives, 2016
For the past two decades, IWRM has been actively promoted by water experts as well as multilateral and bilateral donors who have considered it to be a crucial way to address global water management problems.

Eldis

Preliminary report: trends in fishery resource utilisation on the Great Fish Estuary