The role of acoustic surveys in the assessment of pelagic fish resources on the South African continental shelf

Acoustic data on the abundance and distribution of anchovy Engraulis capensis, pilchard Sardinops ocellatus and round herring Etrumeus whiteheadi on the South African continental shelf have been collected from 21 echo-integrator surveys between 1984 and 1991. Most effort has been concentrated on estimating adult biomass of anchovy and pilchard in November (spring) and anchovy recruitment in autumn. Distribution maps from all surveys are presented and the biomass estimates considered most reliable documented. A series of distribution maps tracing movements of three anchovy year-classes over a four-year period is presented to illustrate the usefulness of the surveys in migration studies. The major findings of the survey programme have been that anchovy are generally considerably more abundant and widespread than was thought to be the case prior to the surveys, that the pilchard resource has recovered substantially in recent years, and that the round herring resource, about which little was known prior to the surveys, is probably of the same order of magnitude as the anchovy resource and is probably underexploited. The anchovy and pilchard resources are currently managed through procedures based largely on the acoustic estimates of biomass and their estimated precision. The role of these estimates in the management procedures is discussed in some detail.