Are spotted gully sharks (Triakis megalopterus) breeding in Walker Bay?

Recently, Aron de Gouveia - owner of Scuba Africa - told us about some interesting behaviours being displayed by spotted gully sharks in a gully in Walker Bay. Aron also told us it appears as though these 9 sharks were "fighting" and that some display what might be fresh mating wounds. According to Aron spotted gully's return to this very same gully each year between February and March. But are these the same sharks and where do they go after they leave the gully?

Scientists have yet to witness spotted gully sharks mating & documenting this behaviour could give us valuable clues into the life-history and ecology of a sensitive elasmobranch species. To verify these reports SASC and Charles Maxwell (reknown videographer: Underwater Video Services), with the assistance of Scuba Africa, will attempt to record this groundbreaking phenomenon.

Stay tuned for updates on this exciting endeavour!

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A Fisherman's Challenge: "My rock lobster permit will lie dormant..."

"My name is Steve. I have been dependent on marine resources as my sole income for the past 27 years. I was born with a passion for anything concerning fish and fishing - but I often feel I was born in the wrong era, as we are seeing the end of a resource that was considered in earlier years of abundance to be endless. On the other hand, I have to accept reality - that I too have played a role in the demise of our marine life. I also have to take responsibility as a concerned fisherman to ensure the future survival of our remaining stocks."

Steve Smuts is a fisher-turned-conservationist. He has spent 27 years of his life fishing for a variety of species, including squid, linefish and sharks. He currently holds a commercial permit for West Coast rock lobster - a resource that has been described by Dr. Kim Prochazka (MCM: Directorate: Resources Research) as "severely depleted". Steve's permit allows him to catch 750kg of lobster annually - a quota that he has found increasingly difficult to catch. What used to take Steve two days of solid fishing effort now takes up to a month or more.

So what does this say about the resource?

Steve maintains that we are seeing dramatic declines in the West Coast rock lobster population. Although they are currently listed on the SASSI Green List, Steve and scientists from Marine and Coastal Management believe this resource is headed the way of the South African abalone sector, and the resource may be on the verge of collapse.

Although completely dependent on fishing to meet his daily needs, Steve believes he has a responsibility to ensure the survival of marine resources for future generations. In a recent statement, Steve said he "...believe(s) there is a way forward on a sustainable basis, but we all have to make sacrifices to realize our goal. If we act now, we might in the future see our resources recover to an acceptable level. Maybe we are too late to see a change in the marine environment in our lifetime, but let's start by instilling a sense of love and respect in our children for the environment."

To prove his committment to the cause of marine conservation, Steve is prepared to do what no fisherman has done before...

Steve's growing concern about the status of marine resources recently led him to pursue a more conservation-oriented path. Last year he joined SASC as the Outreach Programmes Coordinator and he is currently developing several programmes, including our Fisher Stewardship Programme.

Steve has pledged to distance himself from his catching rights, letting his lobster fishing permit lie dormant, if sufficient funding for SASC and Steve's salary can be secured. In doing this, Steve will retain the right under his name instead of selling the rights to another fisher, thereby ensuring his quota of 750kg of lobster remains in the ocean.

Per annum, this permit is worth approximately R150,000 (US$20,000) - this is R150,000 that Steve himself is prepared to lose each year, in the hopes that the West Coast rock lobster population is conserved.

Steve searches for sponsorship to replace value of lobster quota

A lack of funding to pay salaries and operational costs at SASC means that Steve must continue exercising his fishing rights in order to meet the daily living requirements of himself and his family.

As a concerned fisherman, however, Steve has asked that any interested individuals or companies concerned about the state of our marine resources help him put fishing in his past so he can continue developing valuable marine conservation and outreach programmes.

Even if a portion of the R150,000 value of the fishing permit is secured, Steve will give up his fishing rights for good. This will allow him to dedicate his full efforts to working with fishermen to develop a realistic co-management approach to fisheries management.

Meet Steve's challenge & help him conserve our marine resources!

By making a donation to SASC in Steve's name, you will help Steve conserve our marine resources! If you are interested in meeting Steve's challenge, you can find out more by contacting him on +27 (0)83 362 7632 or via email at Steve@sharkconservancy.org.

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Are you a fisher who has seen, or is currently witnessing, strange or dramatic changes in the oceans? If so, we want to hear your story...

Fishers possess a unique understanding of the marine environment. They spend hours of each day over the course of their lifetime intimately studying the features of waves and the characteristics of fish. Much of this knowledge, however, remains unknown to scientists and the changes fishers witness in the marine ecosystem remain largely unquantified.

SASC believes the knowledge we can gain from fishers will provide us with fascinating and scientifically relevant insight into ecosystem shifts currently taking place in the marine realm.

In a first step to examining species declines, climate change and habitat destruction from a fisher's perspective, SASC is searching for related "true-life" stories from fishers who have spent much of their lives at sea. Select stories will be compiled into a book documenting these sea changes.

If you are a recreational or commercial fisherman who wants your story told, please contact us on +27 (0)83 757 8920 or info@sharkconservancy.org.

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Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI)

SASSI is a collaborative initiative by WWF South Africa and other organizations which aims to improve the conservation status of overexploited seafood species through education and awareness.

South African fish, crustacean and mollusk species are categorized into easily recognizable colour-coded lists based on conservation status. Additional information, including species which are protected and fisheries which are eco-unfriendly, is also included in the Consumer's Seafood Guide.

In association with SASSI and the Overstrand Conservation Foundation (OCF), SASC held a SASSI workshop for restaurateurs in the Overstrand Region in March. The workshop was lead by SASSI project coordinator Timony Siebert. Chris Kastern of Robberg Seafood Safari (Knysna) - a seafood supply company well-versed in the SASSI initiative - was also be on-hand to demonstrate feasible methods of incorporating SASSI into those business operations which either market or distribute seafood.

Although 25 restaurants were invited to attend the workshop, there was a disappointing lack of participation and only 9 restaurants attended. The restaurants who participated in the workshop included (in alphabetical order):

Europa Coffee Shop & Restaurant

Incredible Fish

Jimmy's Killer Prawns

Mediterrea Restaurant

Rossi's Restaurant

The Barefoot Cook

The Harbour Rock

The Marine Hotel

Quayside Cabin

SASC extends a heartfelt thanks to the above-mentioned restaurants for their participation in the SASSI workshop.

The Overstrand Region is comprised of communities which are heavily dependent on its marine environment, and fishing and marine eco-tourism contribute substanitally to the economy of this area. Given this dependence, it must be a priority of all who inhabit or visit this area to contribute to conservation goals by making sustainable choices.

SASSI will undoubtedly increase the appeal of the Overstrand - an ecologically unique area - to the thousands of national and international tourists that visit each year, enhancing its reputation as an eco-tourism hotspot.

If you would like to learn more about SASSI, visit their website: www.panda.org.za/sassi.

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Breede River expedition

In January 2008, SASC undertook an expedition to the Breede River in the Western Cape, South Africa. The purpose of this expedition was to determine whether reports of Zambezi (bull) sharks could be confirmed through a dedicated 3-day fishing survey.

The following is an excerpt taken from the final report on our activities submitted to Marine and Coastal Management:

"The Zambezi shark (Carcharhinus leucas) is a cosmopolitan species commonly found in warm water estuaries and shallow coastal waters throughout the world. In South Africa, distribution records indicate that C. leucas occurs from the Mozambican border to approximately the Great Fish River. Recently, however, reports of C. leucas in the Western Cape have increased and photographic evidence suggests that several specimens were caught in the Breede River as early as the 1960s and as recently as January 2008. Anecdotal reports of Zambezi sharks in the Breede River by homeowners and fishers have also increased in recent years, and reports of large kob being taken by sharks in the estuary abound. Though their presence in the Western Cape has yet to be confirmed by experts, the occurrence of C. leucas in the Breede River could represent a previously undocumented southward range extension.

It is feasible that C. leucas occurs in the waters of the Western Cape during summer months as water temperatures rise and favoured prey items such as kob increase. However, it is more likely that coastal sea temperature rises, estuarine degradation and the six-year closure of the St. Lucia estuary in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) - the only estuary which has been confirmed as a Zambezi shark breeding ground - are causing Zambezi sharks to extend their range in search of suitable habitat in which to feed and breed.

As estuaries along the South African coastline become increasingly affected by human activities (e.g., farming, land drainage, and the building of dams), the degradation of critical habitat for estuarine-dependent fish species is becoming an increasingly important management issue. It is suspected that many South African elasmobranch species such as Zambezi sharks depend on estuaries for several reasons, including their role as important feeding, breeding and nursery grounds. Although the actual number of estuarine-dependent elasmobranchs in South Africa remains unquantified, pollution and habitat alteration will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the sustainable management of these populations.

In a first step to addressing this vital management issue, SASC undertook an exploratory sampling trip from February 18-20, 2008 in an attempt to confirm reports of Zambezi sharks in the Breede River. Although no sharks were caught during this time, several reports of C. leucas in the river were made to the Lower Breede River Conservancy (LBRC).

Several factors likely hindered the success of the sampling trip, including lack of familiarity of, and experience in fishing, the river; limited time and fishing effort; and a lack of live bait during the sampling period and subsequent expenditure of fishing effort on catching live bait instead of sharks.

However, despite the apparent lack of success during the sampling period, it was determined that a survey of temperate water estuarine-dependent elasmobranchs should be conducted. Such a survey would provide valuable information on the abundance and distribution of elasmobranchs in estuarine habitats, focusing on the development of long-term management strategies for these species.

As part of this survey, SASC proposes to use C. leucas as a case study animal on which to conduct thorough ecological and management research. The proposed research should focus on the following:

1. analysis of genetic samples to determine if this is a genetically distinct population;

2. acoustic tagging and tracking to examine movement and habitat utilization within and between estuaries, and determine whether movement patterns and distribution are dependent on size/age class;

3. stable isotope analysis to examine whether prey items change between estuaries and across size/age classes;

4. analysis of heavy metals in tissue samples to determine the extent of estuarine degradation.

Output from future surveys would include:

a) a catalogue of estuarine-dependent elasmobranch species of the Western Cape;

b) publications on the ecology of estuarine-dependent elasmobranchs;

c) a case study on the management of estuarine-dependent elasmobranchs."

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