African Journal of Marine Science 2007, 29(3): 411–422 Printed in South Africa — All rights reserved Copyright © NISC Pty Ltd AFRICAN JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE EISSN 1814–2338 doi: 10.2989/AJMS.2007.29.3.9.339 Assessment of recreational boat-angling in a large estuarine embayment in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa BI Everett* and ST Fennessy Oceanographic Research Institute, PO Box 10712, Marine Parade 4056, South Africa * Corresponding author, e-mail: bernadine@ori.org.za Introduction Estuarine boat-angling is popular in South Africa because estuaries usually provide calmer and safer fishing condi- tions compared with the harsher environment of the open ocean. Also, estuaries are relatively convenient to reach for angler-outings and small enough not to require extensive boat trips to fishing areas. Some studies of estuarine boat- fishing have been conducted in Eastern Cape estuaries (Marais and Baird 1980, Pradervand and Baird 2002) and KwaZulu-Natal (Guastella 1994, James et al. 2001, Mann et al. 2002, Pradervand et al. 2003), but no study has been conducted on the estuarine boat-fishery in Richards Bay Harbour. In light of the rapid increase in population of the surrounding uMhlathuze municipal area and a likely increase in fishing pressure on the estuarine embayment, a study was undertaken to determine participation, fishing effort, catches and the socio-economics of the boat-fishery within the harbour. A further aim of this study was to assess the current management of the fishery and to make suggestions to ensure sustainability of the fishery, while conserving the nursery function that the harbour provides to juvenile fish (Cyrus and Forbes 1996). Material and Methods Study area Richards Bay Harbour is situated on the coast of northern KwaZulu-Natal (28°48’S, 32°02’E) and covers a surface area of approximately 1 500 hectares. The harbour was built in a natural embayment that is fed by the Mzingazi, Manzinyama, Bhizolo and uMhlathuze rivers, which have been canalised (Begg 1978). It is one of only two estuarine embayments in KwaZulu-Natal, the other being the Durban Harbour (Whitfield 2000). Both are considered artificial owing to extensive dredging activities at the harbour mouths and within the harbour areas (Whitfield 1998). Richards Bay was regarded as an estuarine lake (Millard and Harrison 1954), but after the development of the commercial harbour its characteristics changed to those of a marine-dominated estuarine embayment (Begg 1978). This change affected the fauna and flora of the harbour by reducing the shallow areas, nutritive substrates, marginal vegetation, eelgrass beds and mangroves, and the widen- ing of the harbour mouth also allowed an increase in tidal flow into the harbour (Begg 1978). An access point study was conducted from June 2002 to May 2003 to collect fishing effort, catch, catch com- position and socio-economic information from the recreational estuarine boat-fishery in Richards Bay Harbour on the east coast of South Africa. An esti- mated 10 977 individual angler-outings were undertaken annually by 1 497 anglers during the study period. Numerically, retained catches were dominated by spotted grunter Pomatomus saltatrix, rockcod Epinephelus andersoni and stumpnose Rhabdosargus sarba. By mass, the most dominant species were pike conger Muraenesox bagio, dusky shark Carcharhinus obscu- rus and E. andersoni. The prevalence of marine species reflects the marine nature of the estuary, although many estuarine species also occurred in the catches. Catch rates were low, at 0.08 fish angler –1 h –1 or 0.11kg angler –1 h –1 . The total annual retained catch was esti- mated at 3 827 fish with a mass of 5 355kg. Total annual expenditure on boat-angling in the harbour is estimated at R6 million, and together with the high proportion of local anglers, this underlines the importance of the estuarine fishery both socially and economically to resi- dents of the uMhlathuze Municipality. Although there is a high presence of conservation officers in Richards Bay Harbour, contravention of regulations imposed on the recreational estuarine linefishery still occurs because estuarine boats are seldom inspected. Improved moni- toring will generate a long-term data series of estuarine catches that will facilitate assessment of sustainability of the fishery. Keywords: estuaries, harbour, line-fishing, recreation, Richards Bay