Review of research trends

Period 1960 – 1969

Following the establishment of the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR) and the associated Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI) in 1951, linefish research in South Africa, and particularly in the KwaZulu-Natal region increased.

During the 1960’s, the majority of linefish research done in South Africa was by scientists at ORI, and was published in the institute’s ORI Investigational reports, and SAAMBR Bulletins. ORI has since continued to be one of the major contributors to linefish research in South Africa, a fact illustrated by the domination by linefish research conducted in KwaZulu-Natal since the 1960’s (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Geographic location of linefish research activity based on the number of outputs published between 1960 and 2007.

The rapid increase in the popularity of elasmobranch research during the 1960’s made it the most prominent focus of linefish research during that decade. Researchers such as D.H. Davies (the director of SAAMBR at the time), J.D. D’Aubrey and J.H. Wallace, produced many publications on shark behaviour (Davies 1963a; 1963b), taxonomy and systematics of elasmobranchs (Davies 1964; 1965; D’Aubrey 1964a; 1964b 1966; Wallace 1967; 1969) and shark tagging (Davies and Joubert 1966; Davies and Joubert 1967).

This period also saw one of the first studies conducted on the biology of a linefish species; namely the seventy-four (Polysteganus undulosus) by Rosemary Ahrens at ORI between 1962 and 1964 (Ahrens 1964).

Period 1970 – 1979

The growing concern for the linefish resource during the 1960’s resulted in the initiation of biological studies on a few important species in the 1970’s. These included white steenbras (Lithognathus lithognathus) (Mehl 1973), shad (Pomatomus saltatrix) (Van der Elst 1975) and panga (Pterogymnus laniarius) (Hecht and Baird 1977). This period witnessed a shift in research focus, largely towards the biology of linefish species. Research within this discipline was evenly spread, with diet and feeding studies (Blaber 1974b; Baird 1978; Joubert 1979), reproduction (Penrith 1972a), age and growth (Blaber 1974a; van Wyk 1977; Hecht 1977), distribution and abundance (Penrith 1972b), life history and physiological studies (Fearnhead and Fabian 1971; Fearnhead 1973; Blaber 1973) all receiving attention. This even spread can be attributed to the large number of publications with multiple focuses within the Biology theme (Wallace 1974; 1975; van der Elst 1975; Hecht 1976) (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Number of Focus area publications within the Biology theme between 1970 and 1979.

Period 1980 – 1989

The 1980’s witnessed a marked increase in the number of management-orientated publications, particularly in the areas of catch statistics and stock assessment of commercially targeted linefish species. Results of this work indicated that urgent intervention was essential, resulting in the first comprehensive linefish management framework in early 1985 (van der Elst and Garratt 1984; Anon 2000). However, the restrictions brought into place by this management framework were, for many species, based on incomplete studies, leaving place for continued biological research, with particular relevance to management.

The Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science (DIFS) at Rhodes University, was founded in 1981, when the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology became a National Museum. It is still the only academic department that specialises in ichthyology and fisheries science on the African continent (DIFS website: www.ru.ac.za/academic/departments/difs). The DIFS has a prolific publication record in terms of linefish research, in the form of both theses and journal articles, focusing on ichthyological, fisheries and aquaculture research.
Ecological research also became a focus in the 1980’s, particularly in the Eastern Cape, putting linefish research in the Eastern Cape on a level with KwaZulu-Natal (Figure 7). Ecological studies were mostly undertaken by researchers at SAIAB, DIFS and the University of Port Elizabeth (now the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University). Ecological research focused mainly on habitat studies during the 1980’s and large contributions were made by L.E Beckley, T.A. Lasiak, and J.F.K. Marais.
The formation of a dedicated Marine Linefish Programme during the 1980’s, under the auspices of the South African National Committee for Oceanographic Research (i.e. the old SANCOR) strengthened and co-ordinated linefish research in South Africa for the first time.
Two long-term linefish monitoring projects were started in 1984, which continue to function to this day, and have played an important role in linefish research. The first of these is the National Marine Linefish System – a catch and effort database for both the commercial and recreational sectors of the linefishery, started and maintained by ORI and MCM. The second was the ORI/WWF-SA Marine Linefish Tagging Project, which involved interested members of the public in tagging fish for research. This project has made a substantial contribution to linefish research in South Africa and has been partly responsible for changing the ethic of recreational anglers towards practicing more catch and release fishing.

Figure 7: Geographic location of linefish research activity based on the number of outputs published between 1980 and 1989.

Period 1990 – 1999

With continued research on catch statistics, stock assessment research as well as fisheries resource use and fisheries related economics, management measures and conservation became a large area of focus during the 1990’s (Figure 8). Marine and Coastal Management produced a Research Highlights series, while research at Rhodes University, the University of Cape Town, and the University of Port Elizabeth (now the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University) was in full swing, and a host of M.Sc. and Ph.D. theses were produced on these topics.

The 1990’s also witnessed a further increase in elasmobranch research. During this time more emphasis was placed on age and growth, shark nets, fisheries, catch statistics and management of elasmobranchs, rather than behaviour and shark attacks.

Figure 8: Number of Focus area publications within the Management theme during the period 1990 - 1999.