The current status and management of South Africa's chondrichthyan fisheries

BeyondJaws: rediscovering the ‘lost sharks’ of southern Africa

“…Chimaeras in southern Africa are mostly deep-water species and generally are not targeted in fisheries, with the exception of the coastal Cape elephantfish Callorhinchus capensis, known locally as the St Joseph. This species is taken as bycatch in a demersal trawl fishery and is targeted in a nearshore gillnet fishery (Freer and Griffiths 1993;da Silva et al 2015) but catches have been stable since 2004 (DAFF 2013). The Cape chimaera Chimaera notafricana and the African chimaera Hydrolagus africanus are poorly known species that usually occur deeper than 600 m, and both are occasionally caught Compagno (1999) and the present study.…”

Global versus local causes and health implications of high mercury concentrations in sharks from the east coast of South Africa

“…In addition, of the 17 shark species tested, estimated average annual landings exceed 10 t in the case of only three; dusky (range 11-100 t), copper Carcharhinus brachyurus (101-200 t) and shortfin mako (301-700 t), and that, in general, sharks weighing between 1.5 and 12 kg are preferred because of lower (size-related) levels of Hg and Cd (da Silva et al, 2015;da Silva and Bürgener 2007). Filets of shortfin mako, however, are valuable regardless of size (da Silva et al, 2015), which is a concern, given the high levels of THg.…”

Baited remote underwater video system (BRUVs) survey of chondrichthyan diversity in False Bay, South Africa

“…However, long-term monitoring of the impact of fisheries on these species is inadequate (da Silva and Burgener 2007;da Silva et al 2015). Ninety-nine different chondrichthyan species are caught by multiple fisheries in South Africa (DAFF 2012;da Silva et al 2015). Six fisheries are recognised as targeting sharks, rays, skates and chimaeras.…”

“…Six fisheries are recognised as targeting sharks, rays, skates and chimaeras. These are the demersal and pelagic longline fisheries, linefishery (commercial and recreational), gillnet fishery, beach-seine net fishery and the KwaZulu-Natal bather protection programme (DAFF 2012;Best et al 2013;da Silva et al 2015). The greatest proportion of chondrichthyans, however, is caught as bycatch in other fisheries, e.g.…”

“…The greatest proportion of chondrichthyans, however, is caught as bycatch in other fisheries, e.g. in the commercial trawl sector (da Silva et al 2015). This fact, compounded by inadequate and inaccurate reporting of catches, means that proper understanding of which species are most affected -and how -is limited (Best et al 2013).…”