“It takes a moment to hook a fish…
…but that fish has taken its life-time to end up on your line!”
The KwaZulu-Natal yellowfish or “Scalies” are well sought after by anglers yet there is still so little we know about them. Have you wondered how old your caught fish is? … how fast it grows? … where did it come from?
A project hosted by the Institute of Natural Resources on the uMngeni River is looking to answer some of these questions using a Tag and Release long-term monitoring programme.
The aims of the project are:
- To tag and release yellowfish in the uMngeni River
- Recapture tagged yellowfish over time
Using the data from the tag and release programme we hope to find out:
- When yellowfish start moving into the uMngeni River
- What size class of yellowfish are moving
- How long can tagged yellowfish live for
- What is the condition and growth of tagged individuals over a season
- Where fish go to get caught
The project is in collaboration with anglers from Hilton College, the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the Institute of Natural Resources. The project is driven for a better understanding of Scalies supporting the angling on the river promoting a data-driven fishery to inspire the next generation of fishers. With the data we hope to gain a better understanding of the annual return of the fish into the river so anglers can catch the “big” ones!
This is a new initiative with long lasting impacts, in order to run the project over multiple years we would appreciate the following support from interested people or organisations:
- Tags to track individual fish in the river (R80 000)
- Website/app development to easily report data (R8000)
- Tagging kits (10000 per kit, incl. training of an angler)
- Data analysis (R10000 per annum)
If you wish to donate to assist with financing the above or contribute to this project, please let us know. Donations can be made to the KZN Yellowfish Project, and a Section 18a certificate can be issued on request.
We value your contribution and cannot make this a success without these.
For more information, please contact Matthew Burnett: mburnett@inr.org.za
