YELLOWFISH TAGGING: LOWER-ORANGE RIVER

YELLOWFISH TAGGING: LOWER-ORANGE RIVER

Involved in the constant effort of South African fish species conservation, Mavungana Flyfishing has their eyes set on the monitoring and improvement of largemouth and smallmouth yellowfish stocks in the lower reaches of the Orange River, which runs through the Richtersveld National Park.

This research is the first of its kind in the lower Orange River, and aims to help understand more about the fish populations and movements. The information gained will better scientists’ knowledge and understanding of either species, with the goal of preserving their future.

Mavungana has teamed up with Ph.D student Angelica Kaiser from the University of Mpumalanga, together with Rivers of Life, an aquatic research organisation, in a mark-recapture research project.

Kaiser says, “As a charismatic, well-known and economically important group of species, yellowfish conservation is an ideal flagship project to conserve aquatic systems throughout South Africa. Yellowfish are the most popular indigenous freshwater species in South Africa, supporting valuable and growing recreational and subsistence fisheries. They are valuable indicators of aquatic ecosystem health, requiring both rivers and dams with diverse habitats, good water quality and few or no alien biotas, and a near-natural flow regime.”

The overall aim of the study investigate the behavioural ecology and fishery status of the Yellowfish population in the Orange River. This project proposes to initiate a tagging program on the Orange River, where recapture data will allow insight into the movement, growth, and population sizes of Yellowfish species present. 

 

Watch the short video for more info:

 

 

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