State of the Bay Report 2010-Final - Anchor Environmental

Anchor Environmental
In spite of these noteworthy successes, the history of the area has been one that is also
tainted with overexploitation and abuse, the environment generally being the loser in both
instances.
Saldanha Bay and Langebaan Lagoon have long been the focus of scientific study and
interest largely owing to the conservation importance and it’s many unique features. A symposium
on research in the natural sciences of Saldanha Bay and Langebaan Lagoon was hosted by the Royal
Society of South Africa in 1976 in an attempt to draw together information from the various
research studies that had been and were being conducted in the area. The symposium served to
focus the attention of scientific researchers from a wide range of disciplines on the Bay and resulted
in the development of a large body of data and information on the status of the Bay and Lagoon at a
time prior to any major developments in the Bay.
More recently (in 1996), the Saldanha Bay Water Quality Forum Trust (SBWQFT), a voluntary
organization representing various organs of State, local industry and other relevant stakeholders and
interest groups, was inaugurated with the aim of promoting an integrated approach to the
management, conservation and development of the waters of Saldanha Bay and the Langebaan
Lagoon, and the land areas adjacent to, and influencing it. Since its inauguration the SBWQFT has
played an important role in guiding and influencing management of the Bay and in commissioning
scientific research aimed at supporting informed decision making and sustainable management of
the Saldanha Bay/Langebaan Lagoon ecosystem. Monitoring of a number of important ecosystem
indicators was initiated by the SBWQFT in 1999 including water quality (faecal coliform,
temperature, oxygen and pH), sediment quality (trace metals, hydrocarbons, particulate organic
carbon and nitrogen) and benthic macrofauna. The range of parameters monitored has since
increased to include surf zone fish and rocky intertidal macrofauna (both initiated in 2005) and has
culminated in the commissioning of a “State of the Bay” report series that has been produced
annually since 2008.
The first State of the Bay report was produced in 2006 by Anchor Environmental and served
to draw together all available information on the heath status and trends in a wide range of
parameters that provide insights into the health of the Saldanha Bay/Langebaan Lagoon ecosystem.
The 2006 report incorporated information on trends in a full range of physico-chemical indicators
including water quality (temperature, oxygen, salinity, nutrients, and pH), sediment quality (particle
size, heavy metal and hydrocarbon contaminants, particulate organic carbon and nitrogen) and
ecological indicators (Chlorophyll a, benthic macrofauna, fish and birds). This information was
drawn from work commissioned by the SBWQFT as well as a range of other scientific monitoring
programmes and studies. The 2006 report was presented in two formats – one data rich form that
was designed to provide detailed technical information in trends in each of the monitored
parameters and the second in an easy to read form that was accessible to all stakeholders.
The success of the first State of the Bay report and the ever increasing pace of development
in and around the Saldanha Bay encouraged the SBWQFT to produce the second Sate of the Bay
report in 2008, and this report (State of the Bay 2010), the fourth in the series. This (2010) report
provides an update on the health of all monitored parameters in Saldanha Bay and Langebaan
Lagoon in the time since the last State of the Bay assessment (2009), and includes information on
trends in all of the parameters reported on in the previous reports (2006, 2008, and 2009). It also
incorporates a number of additional indicators not previously covered by the State of the Bay
reports (focussing mostly on activities and discharges that affect the health of the system).
State of the Bay 2010: Saldanha Bay and Langebaan Lagoon 34