The group around the South African Research Chair in Marine Ecology and Fisheries (SARCHI ME&F) is concerned with developing methodology for the implementation of an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) in the Benguela large marine ecosystem , and more generally, methodology for a systems approach to managing human interactions with the ocean. This includes coping with, and adapting to, climate change in marine social-ecological systems.
The interdisciplinary team is led by Associate Professor Astrid Jarre and Dr. Lynne Shannon.
We are a part of UCT’s Marine Research (MA-RE) Institute and UCT’s Centre for Statistics in Environment, Ecology and Conservation (SEEC). We are grateful for core funding by the DST/NRF South African Research Chair Initiative, and additional funding from the CEC, UCT, NRF, the A W Mellon Foundation, the Leiden Conservation Trust and the Responsible Fisheries Alliance . Our professional network includes colleagues in South Africa, southern Africa and world-wide.
News
A letter to the editor of Ecological Modelling in support of a systems approach to management of human activities in the southern Benguela has just been published. It highlights “The perilous conservation status of the African penguin and the increasing pressure on our global marine environment, underline the need for modelling tools that the enable the examination of trade-offs across management alternatives in the immediate future by considering all available information in an ecologically meaningful way”.
Congratulations to Tamsyn Tyler, who graduated with a MSc in Applied Marine Science (by coursework and dissertation) last week and was awarded Distinction for her degree. Her thesis is “Examining the feeding ecology of two mesopelagic fishes (Lampanyctodes hectoris andMaurolicus walvisensis) off the west coast of South Africa using stable isotope and stomach content analyses”.
New book chapter by Ander M. De Lecea & Rachel Cooper. “The importance of the Thukela River Estuary, East Coast of South Africa, for the biology of the near-shore environment and associated human aspects: a review.”
The chapter is from a newly published book...
Our lab’s very own Sven Ragaller took part in the Cape Town Cycle Tour this past weekend. With 35 000 cyclists participating, this is the largest individually timed bicycle race in the world. The 109km long route meanders along the beautiful Cape peninsula. Riders start in batches, each containing about 500 riders. In the photo below there about 1500 riders, which makes the scale and organisation of this 39th edition an impressive feat.