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Freshwater recreational angling is growing in popularity internationally. Due to the potential negative environmental impacts, various regulatory systems exist. In South Africa, freshwater recreational angling is regulated through a complex legal framework, consisting of national and provincial legislation dating back to the 1960s. The legislation also relates to historical and current provincial boundaries, adding to the regulatory complexity. Due to this complexity, the question arises whether freshwater recreational bank anglers in South Africa are aware of the regulatory requirements applicable to them. Low levels of awareness could lead to non-compliance, which would suggest an ineffective regulatory system. The aim of this research was thus to determine the environmental regulatory awareness of freshwater recreational bank anglers in South Africa. This was achieved through a literature review of national and provincial legislation, as well as the rules applicable to organised freshwater recreational bank angling. An online survey was completed by 100 members of the South African Freshwater Bank Angling Federation (SAFBAF). The results of the survey indicate that the regulatory awareness of the sample of SAFBAF freshwater recreational anglers is low in certain key areas, such as bag and size limits for specific fish species, catch and release requirements, as well as legal definitions for alien and invasive and TOPS species listings. However, the low level of awareness can be ascribed to the complex regulatory system and not unwillingness of anglers to comply per se. It is recommended that (i) a single consolidated and simplified regulatory system for freshwater recreational bank angling be developed, and (ii) that angling organisational and competition rules be aligned with relevant regulatory requirements, to improve overall awareness and promote higher levels of regulatory compliance.

Despite the health risks associated with exposure to Cryptosporidium and Giardia, there is no uniform approach to monitoring these protozoan parasites across the world. In the present study, a strategy for monitoring Cryptosporidium and Giardia in drinking water was developed in an effort to ensure that the risk of exposure to these organisms and the risks of non-compliance to guidelines are reduced. The methodology developed will be applicable to all water supply systems irrespective of size and complexity of the purification works. It is based on monitoring procedures proposed by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, Australia and New Zealand, as well as the risk-based procedure followed by Northern Ireland. The monitoring strategy developed represents a preventative approach for proactively monitoring Cryptosporidium and Giardia species in drinking water. The strategy consists of 10 steps: (i) assessment of the monitoring requirements, (ii) description and characterisation of the source water types, (iii) abstraction of source water, (iv) assessment of the water purification plant, (v) water quality monitoring, (vi) cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis outbreak, (vii) risk assessment, (viii) sample collection and laboratory processing, (ix) data evaluation, interpretation and storage, (x) process evaluation and review. Proper implementation of this protocol can contribute to the protection of drinking water consumers by identifying high-risk source water, identifying areas of improvement within the water treatment system, and also preventing further faecal pollution in the catchments. The protocol can also be integrated into the Water Safety Plans to optimise compliance. Furthermore, this methodology has a potential to contribute to Blue Drop certification as it should form part of the incident management protocols which are a requirement of Water Safety Plan implementation.