From March 2021, the City of Cape Town’s Environmental Management Department together with a number of top marine scientists, will undertake an extensive ecological monitoring exercise of the Helderberg Marine Protected Area (MPA).
The City manages the Helderberg MPA on behalf of the National Department of Environment Forestry and Fisheries and will, as part of that management responsibility, measure and determine the abundance and diversity (health) of the marine environment in the MPA.
The Helderberg MPA is one of the oldest and smallest MPAs in South Africa. It lies between the Lourens River Mouth to the east and the Eerste River mouth to the west and extends 500m offshore. It is a no-take MPA and fishing has not been allowed for over 60 years.
To date, very little current knowledge exists on the ecological health and the levels of abundance and diversity of marine species within the Helderberg MPA.
This work will include multiple surveys done for the first time in this MPA, including:
- A survey of Tylos granulatus presence (a type of animal species)
- A complete survey of the Sandy Beach Macrofauna
- A complete survey of the Subtidal Invertebrates
- An extensive fish fag and release programme from both the shoreline and from boats
- The deployment of an acoustic receiver into the MPA to add to the existing telemetry array in False Bay
- The acoustic tagging of 10 fish and two sharks in the MPA.
‘It is gratifying that the National Government has entrusted us with such an important task and I am confident that our officials have the appropriate skill set and expertise to facilitate it for the benefit of all South Africans and our marine environment. We are looking forward to the outcomes and findings which we believe will be fascinating and interesting to all,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Marian Nieuwoudt.
Going forward, the surveys will be repeated annually in order to measure and monitor any changes. The movements of the 12 acoustically tagged animals will be monitored to see how they use the Helderberg MPA, as well as the wider False Bay.