Developing and refining a joint management procedure for the multispecies South African pelagic fishery

Pilchard (sardine) and anchovy are the main targets of South Africa's pelagic fishery. This fishery is the country's second most valuable in monetary terms, and produces the highest annual yield in terms of landed mass (in recent years, a combined catch of the order of 400 000 t). It is the most dynamic of South Africa's main commercial fisheries, because the species targeted are relatively short-lived, often occur in mixed shoals, and experience large fluctuations in abundance. Mixed shoaling causes operational problems for the fishery, because of the inevitability of juvenile pilchard bycatch (of more value as adults for canning) in the anchovy-directed fishery. This operational interaction implies a trade-off between allowable catches for the two species, and hence necessitates that they are managed together. The development of a joint “management procedure” (sensu IWC) for the two species is described. This provides a framework for quantifying this trade-off, subject to the constraint that acceptable levels of risk of “collapse” are not exceeded for either resource. Important new features incorporated in a revision of the procedure implemented in 2002, which have made appreciably enhanced catches from the resources possible, are described.