A survey of the South African shore-angling fishery

Roving creel surveys and aerial surveys of shore-angling were undertaken as part of a national investigation into linefishing in South Africa. Shore patrols utilized a random stratified sampling procedure to collect catchand-effort data, and a questionnaire provided information on fishing effort, angler demographics, economics and attitudes towards current regulations. A total of 1 677 patrols, covering 19 616 km, was conducted betweenApril 1994 and February 1996, during which period 9 523 anglers had their catches checked and 4 490 were interviewed. A further 16 497 km were covered by aerial surveys, when 22 609 anglers were counted. Fromthe aerial surveys, angler densities were highest on the KwaZulu-Natal coast (4.65 anglers.km–1), followed by the Southern Cape coast (2.29 anglers.km–1), the Eastern Cape coast (0.36 anglers.km–1) and the WestCoast (0.12 anglers.km–1). Catch rates varied from 1.5 kg.angler –1.day–1 on the Southern Cape coast to 0.45 kg.angler–1.day–1 on the KwaZulu-Natal coast. Total effort was estimated at 3.2×106 angler days.year–1 and the total catch was estimated at 4.5×106 fish.year–1 or 3 000 tons.year–1. Targeted species varied regionally, with elf Pomatomus saltatrix (29%) being the most sought after species on the KwaZulu-Natal coast, kob Argyrosomus japonicus (18%) on the Eastern Cape coast and galjoen Dichistius capensis on the Southern Cape coast (30%) and along the West Coast (50%). The catch composition by mass was dominated byP. saltatrix on the KwaZulu-Natal coast (29%), the Eastern Cape coast (26%), and on the Southern Cape coast (56%) and by white stumpnose Rhabdosargus globiceps (40%) on the West Coast. Although anglersgenerally supported the regulations currently governing the linefishery, the questionnaire results showed that knowledge and compliance of them was poor. A low level of law enforcement was found, except for inKwaZulu-Natal. Management of the linefishery is discussed in relation to the findings of this study