Fishing Directory

For more than 33 years the Endangered Wildlife Trust has remained committed to conserving biodiversity in southern Africa. One of our current focus areas is on marine and coastal ecosystems. It is becoming increasingly clear that our oceans and coasts are in trouble, and that humankind is the primary cause of this.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust has launched the Ocean Futures Angling Programme, to address some of these impacts by raising the awareness of coastal users, in particular recreational fishers and sport anglers. The programme aims to contribute to keeping our oceans and coasts healthy and by appealing to anglers to adopt a responsible approach to the use of our marine and coastal resources. The Ocean Futures Angling Programme is an attempt to build on the conservation ethic existing among the angling community in South Africa and to reduce the impacts associated with this leisure activity.

The objectives of the programme are to:

Harness and strengthen the conservation ethic of recreational anglers utilizing South African marine and coastal waters
Identify and promote conservation best practice recreational angling activities
Raise awareness of the importance of maintaining healthy marine and coastal environments.

Information on the recreational angling sector is necessary to identify key opportunities for more sustainable use of marine and coastal resources. Information on opportunities for threat mitigation is needed in addition to the need to foster relationships among regulators, conservationists and the angling sector and to strengthen management of marine living resources. Recreational fishing is of particular concern in sensitive coastal areas (i.e. estuaries) where effort has increased due to new regulations restricting vehicular access to beaches. To this end, the following study will be initiated:

Recreational Angler Survey

The aim of the survey targeting recreational anglers will be to assess the existing levels of conservation ethic among anglers and to identify ways to harness the valuable input on conservation best practices from the angling community. The survey will also be structured to gather information on key issues around management of marine resources that are targeted by anglers and to develop mitigation measures for reducing both impacts from recreational angling on the marine environment as well as the conflict between the industry and government. The survey will be designed to be accessible both online and as a physical survey to be undertaken at relevant public events and through angling equipment suppliers.

ii. Outreach and Communication

Project activities will also focus on the sensitization of recreational fishers to the importance of sensitive and protected coastal and marine areas, the threatened nature of the species within these critical habitats and the desperate need for responsible angling. Awareness raising and outreach activities also garner support for closure from fishing in priority estuarine MPAs.

Linda Downsborough - Endangered Wildlife Trust