B.R. Ellender Msc Thesis 1
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THE IMPACT OF ANGLING ON SMALLMOUTH AND LARGEMOUTH YELLOWFISH, LABEOBARBUS AENEUS AND LABEOBARBUS KIMBERLEYENSIS, IN LAKE GARIEP, SOUTH AFRICA A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE of RHODES UNIVERSITY by BRUCE ROBERT ELLENDER December 2008 THE IMPACT OF ANGLING ON SMALLMOUTH AND LARGEMOUTH YELLOWFISH, LABEOBARBUS AENEUS AND LABEOBARBUS KIMBERLEYENSIS, IN LAKE GARIEP, SOUTH AFRICA I am aware of the University’s Policy on Plagiarism. All of the work is my own. I have not included ideas, phrases, passages or illustrations from another person’s work without acknowledging their authorship.” Name: Bruce Robert Ellender Student Number: g06e3146 Signed: ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................................IV ABSTRACT...........................................................................................................................................................V CHAPTER 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION.................................................................... 1 THE STATUS OF YELLOWFISH............................................................................................................................... 1 FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT.................................................................................................................................... 2 CURRENT TRENDS AND CONCERNS RELATED TO INLAND FISHERIES .................................................................... 3 THESIS OUTLINE .................................................................................................................................................. 5 CHAPTER 2: STUDY SITE AND GENERAL MATERIAL & METHODS ................... 7 ORANGE RIVER ................................................................................................................................................... 7 ORANGE RIVER DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (ORDP).............................................................................................. 7 LAKE GARIEP ...................................................................................................................................................... 8 FIELD SAMPLING METHODS ............................................................................................................................... 17 CHAPTER 3: THE BIOLOGY OF LABEOBARBUS AENEUS AND LABEOBARBUS KIMBERLEYENSIS IN LAKE GARIEP.......................................................................... 25 3.1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 25 3.2. MATERIALS & METHODS............................................................................................................................ 26 3.3. RESULTS ..................................................................................................................................................... 32 3.4. DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................................ 50 CHAPTER 4: CHARACTERISING AND DESCRIBING THE LAKE GARIEP FISHERY ........................................................................................................................... 58 4.1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 58 4.2. MATERIALS & METHODS............................................................................................................................ 59 4.3. RESULTS ..................................................................................................................................................... 60 4.4. DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................................ 68 CHAPTER 5: A QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE LAKE GARIEP FISHERY ........................................................................................................................... 73 5.1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 73 5.2. MATERIALS & METHODS............................................................................................................................ 73 5.3 RESULTS ...................................................................................................................................................... 78 5.4 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................................. 86 CHAPTER 6: GENERAL DISCUSSION AND MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON PER-RECRUIT ANALYSIS .............................. 91 CONCLUDING REMARKS .................................................................................................................................... 97 MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................. 98 REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................................... 100 iii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank my family, without whom, progression to this point in my studies would not have been possible. Dad, Mom, Guy, Sara and Bid, thank you for your unending love and support throughout my studies. To my supervisor Dr Olaf Weyl, I could not have stepped into a better organised project, thank you. I really appreciate your guidance in the field, laboratory and data analysis. To Henning Winker, thank you for all you help in the field and guidance during data analysis. Thanks to Bronwen Palmer for her help with drawing maps. Thanks to Mana Meadows for providing some photographs of Lake Gariep. Thanks to Graham Traas and Charlie Wilson for their help in the field. Thanks to Caryn McNamara for helping proof read my thesis. To Emma Holland, thanks for the love, motivation and support and proof reading you provided me throughout my thesis. Thanks to the Eastern Cape Parks and Free State Nature Conservation for access to the Oviston and Gariep Nature reserves. Specific thanks to Chris Botha and Harry Bosman of the Gariep Nature Reserve, and James Cary of the Oviston Nature Reserve for all the logistical help they provided me. Many thanks go to the staff from the Oviston and Gariep Nature Reserves. The Gariep State fish hatchery is thanked for providing ponds for use in experiments and accommodation when needed. Specific thanks to Piet Alexander, Wickus Koen and Duart Hugo. To the Cary family, a large thanks to James, Helen, Gary and Ashleigh Cary for their hospitality and logistical help on the project. Oviston Nature reserve is also thanked for providing accommodation. Thanks to the Free State Department of Tourism, Environmental and Economic Affairs for the provision of sampling permits for the fishes of Lake Gariep (Permit No. Hk/P1/07871/002). Thanks to the National Research Foundation (FA2005021600012) and the Ernst & Ethel Erikson Trust for providing the funding that made this study possible. iv Abstract A large sportfishery that targets both smallmouth (Labeobarbus aeneus) and largemouth (Labeobarbus kimberleyensis) yellowfish exists in South Africa. Both species have high conservation priority, and no assessments documenting the effect of angling on L. aeneus and L. kimberleyensis have been undertaken. The overall aim of this study was to provide an assessment of the impact of angling on L. aeneus and L. kimberleyensis. The specific objectives of this study were to characterise the sectors utilising Lake Gariep, document catch, effort and total catch for the fishery as well as the locality specific biology of L. aeneus and L. kimberleyensis. The study was undertaken on Lake Gariep, South Africas largest impoundment, situated on the Orange River system in central South Africa. Subsistence fishers were the dominant user group, constituting 60 % of the fishery, the remainder constituted recreational anglers. Angler catches were dominated by carp (Cyprinus carpio; 74 %), followed by mudfish (Labeo capensis; 13 %) and smallmouth yellowfish (8 %). Catches of largemouth yellowfish contributed < 0.5 % to the total catch. The relative abundance of species by weight differed by area (χ2 test of independence: χ2 = 182, df = 4, p ≤ 0.05). On any sampling day time fished was the best predictor for differences in probability of capture (PC) (Wald X2(1) = 7.169, p = 0.007). The probability of capturing L. aeneus differed significantly between month (Wald X2(5) = 20.690, p = 0.000) and region (Wald X2(3) = 46.755, p = 0.000). The single best predictor of differences in log abundance and non-zero CPUE was region (Factorial ANOVA p ≤ 0.05). Mean CPUE ranged from 0.21 ± 0.06 kg. man-1.hr-1 to 0.82 ± 0.11 kg. man-1.hr-1 in the OV region and 0.42 ± 0.10 kg. man-1.hr-1 to 1.17 ± 0.24 kg. man-1.hr-1 in the GD region. Angler effort was higher in OV than in GD and ranged from 17 ± 3 anglers/day to 45 ± 9 anglers/day and 6 ± 1 anglers/day to 41 ± 8 anglers/day, respectively. Total catch was higher in the GD 46.0 [95 % CI = 15:102.6] t. period-1 than the OV region 40.0 [95 % CI = 13.9:89.6]