Spotlight on Stock Assessment. Free-for-all Threatens Sustainability

An international fisheries stock assessment panel has expressed shock at the extent of poaching in South Africa’s inshore waters, and called for additional methods to monitor the problem.

The panel, convened annually to review methods used for conducting local stock assessments, met in Cape Town during the last week of November. Their topics included analysis of the latest assessments of several Southern African fisheries, including hake, sardine, West Coast Rock Lobster and South Coast Rock Lobster. The panel was comprised of leading world scientists in the field from Canada, Norway and the USA.