Abstract
Over the past three decades, marine resource management has shifted conceptually from top-down sectoral approaches towards the more systems-oriented multi-stakeholder frameworks of integrated coastal management and ecosystem-based conservation. However, the successful implementation of such frameworks is commonly hindered by a lack of cross-disciplinary knowledge transfer, especially between natural and social sciences. This review represents a holistic synthesis of three decades of change in the oceanography, biology and human dimension of False Bay, South Africa. The productivity of marine life in this bay and its close vicinity to the steadily growing metropolis of Cape Town have led to its socio-economic significance throughout history. Considerable research has highlighted shifts driven by climate change, human population growth, serial overfishing, and coastal development. Upwelling-inducing winds have increased in the region, leading to cooling and likely to nutrient enrichment of the bay. Subsequently the distributions of key components of the marine ecosystem have shifted eastward, including kelp, rock lobsters, seabirds, pelagic fish, and several alien invasive species. Increasing sea level and exposure to storm surges contribute to coastal erosion of the sandy shorelines in the bay, causing losses in coastal infrastructure and posing risk to coastal developments. Since the 1980s, the human population of Cape Town has doubled, and with it pollution has amplified. Overfishing has led to drastic declines in the catches of numerous commercially and recreationally targeted fish, and illegal fishing is widespread. The tourism value of the bay contributes substantially to the country’s economy, and whale watching, shark-cage diving and water sports have become important sources of revenue. Compliance with fisheries and environmental regulations would benefit from a systems-oriented approach whereby coastal systems are managed holistically, embracing both social and ecological goals. In this context, we synthesize knowledge and provide recommendations for multidisciplinary research and monitoring to achieve a better balance between developmental and environmental agendas.
Highlights
The past 30 years have seen a global paradigm shift in natural resource management practices, from a sector-bysector approach, whereby resources are largely managed in isolation, towards system-oriented multistakeholder frameworks
This need is the primary motivation for this synthesis, in which we summarize new findings and changes that have occurred in the oceanography, biology and the human dimension of the socio-ecology of False Bay over the past 30 years, based on published literature and presentation of new results
Various angler and other interest groups continued to lobby for the complete removal of beach-seining from False Bay, their rationale being that this fishery is detrimental to stocks of “angling” species such as white steenbras and yellowtail, that large quantities of juvenile fish are caught and killed, especially near river mouths, that large quantities of “non-edible” and other illegal species are caught, and that dragging of nets over the sea bed was damaging to the benthic ecosystem (DAFF, 2010, 2012b, 2014, 2016; Lamberth and Bennett, 1992, Lamberth et al, 1994, 1995a, 1995b, 1995c, Lamberth, 2006)
Summary
The past 30 years have seen a global paradigm shift in natural resource management practices, from a sector-bysector approach, whereby resources are largely managed in isolation, towards system-oriented multistakeholder frameworks. The backdrop provided above emphasizes the need for a multidisciplinary approach and knowledge-sharing between social and natural sciences if effective conservation of biodiversity and sustainable utilization of resources is to be achieved This need is the primary motivation for this synthesis, in which we summarize new findings and changes that have occurred in the oceanography, biology and the human dimension of the socio-ecology of False Bay over the past 30 years, based on published literature and presentation of new results. The model results compared favorably with in situ current measurements (De Vos, 2014), showing that southeasterly winds during summer induce offshore transport and upwelling at Cape Hangklip, which penetrates into False Bay, while northwesterly winds during winter cause onshore transport and mixing.
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