Uilkraals Situation Assessment - Anchor Environmental

strands of remnant undisturbed fynbos. A number of places have reported the occurrence ofred data species, in addition a number of flower harvesting and processing centres are locatedin the catchment, for example Concordia and Niewedam (van der Merwe 2008).Figure 14. Uilkraals Estuary (which is now closed to the sea) with the Uilenkraalsmond Holiday Resortsituated at the mouth (inside red box). Source: Google Earth.Recreational use of estuaries is significant in South Africa, with an estimated total of 67 000recreational anglers and 5700 cast netters (Turpie & Clark 2007). Although this activity isrelatively small in the Uilkraals Estuary area and on the coast, recreational angling (mainlyshore angling) is carried out by many of the locals and visitors to the area. The bulk of theUilkraals Estuary linefish catch is made within 500 m of the mouth. The total fishing effort forthe Uilkraals Estuary is 2.1 tonnes, which is considerably less when compared to the Klein (80tonnes), the Bot (70 tonnes) and the Heuningnes (10 tonnes; Lamberth & Turpie 2003).The economic value of the recreational fishery can be considered in terms of the expenditureon fishing by recreational fishers (i.e. the income to subsidiary industries such asaccommodation and fuel). While the commercial and traditional fisheries are forms ofgenerating cash or subsistence income, and are largely valued in terms of the market value oftheir catches, the value of recreational angling does not lie mainly in the market value of thefish caught. Recreational anglers value the sport and experience, and expend considerablesums on this activity, largely irrespective of their catch returns (McGrath et al. 1997). Thevalue attributed to this fishery is mostly in terms of gains to subsidiary industries that benefitfrom angler expenditure (McGrath et al. 1997).Uilkraals Estuary Situation Assessment39Anchor Environmental