Assessing the abundance and distribution of eggs of sardine, Sardinops sagax, and round herring, Etrumeus whiteheadi, on the western Agulhas Bank, South Africa, using a continuous, underway fish egg sampler

Abstract

A continuous, underway fish egg sampler (CUFES) was employed to assess the abundance and distribution of eggs of both sardine, Sardinops sagax, and round herring, Etrumeus whiteheadi, on the Western Agulhas Bank, South Africa, during September 1996. Samples were collected while underway along six inshore/offshore transects, and at stations along the transects. Volumetric estimates of egg density (eggs m−3) from on‐station CUFES samples were highly correlated with both volumetric and areal (eggs m−2) estimates of egg density from samples collected from CalVET net hauls at these stations, demonstrating the validity of this novel sampling technique. Sardine and round herring eggs were encountered in a band running parallel to the coast and extending from 10 to 30 nautical miles offshore to the shelf edge, and highest egg densities were associated with strong north‐west‐flowing currents in the region of the shelf edge. Collecting samples while underway increased the precision of the estimate of mean egg density for sardine eggs but not for round herring eggs. The use of CUFES in obtaining a fine‐scale resolution of sardine egg distribution, and as a tool for stock assessment, are discussed.