S
eptember has sped past and
already there are strong signs
that this year’s summer season
is going to produce some amazing
catches.
Shad season has now come to a close
and they remain off limits until the 1st
of December and the Galjoen season
closes on the 15th of this month and
remains closed until the last day of
February next year.
These closed seasons are in place to give
these fish a chance to breed and spawn
and while our shad stocks definitely
look to have benefitted from their
closed season, the same cannot be said
for our national fish, the galjoen.
These fish are one of the main edible
species targeted by both recreational
anglers and spearfishermen in the
Western Cape and their stocks were
rated as “collapsed” after the last
study on the species in 2005. Marine
Protected Areas have been a major
benefit to them, and we can only hope
that the species continues to benefit
from the older MPA’s and that recently
declared MPA’s bring them back to a
healthier population level.
On a more positive note, the non-
edible fishing seems to have kicked
off strongly in the past few weeks with
some amazing bronze whaler sharks
already being landed in fairly good
numbers in the Western and Southern
Cape and KZN and Zululand are also
seeing a signs of a good, early flatfish
season and a variety of really good fish
have already been caught, from some
big Diamond Rays, Blue Stingrays to
some spectacular Honeycomb Rays.
It’s early days yet but it looks like this
could be a summer to remember.
While on this topic, I’d like to appeal
to the more experienced non-edible
anglers in our community to be extra
vigilant on the beaches while they are
out fishing. Each year this aspect of