So what happened to our fish?
• Lets take the galjoen as an
example...........
• Based on what we know about
the biology of this fish, the
average age of those 42
individuals caught by Henry
Dreyer was 15.
• So, in one mornings fishing
one fishermen removed 660
years worth of fish growth
from the sea.
Many people say that fish populations have declined
because of commercial fisheries, but is that true?
•There are 29 inshore hake trawlers
fishing in SA
•They fish on average for 180 days a
year
•They catch a total of 2390 t per year
•(Powers et al 2004)
•There are approximately 850 000 rock and surf
fishers in SA (Leibolt 2008)
•If we each fish on average five times per year
and catch 1kg of fish per trip our total catch
would be 4250 t per year
•There are approximately 1735 light tackle boat
fishers in SA (Leibolt 2008)
•Average daily catch is approximately 3.5 kg per
day is 35 t per year
Cooke and Cowx (2004) –Recreational anglers catch
an estimated 47.1 billion fish annually.