How study aims to help fishers
Researcher to monitor pollution in False Bay
SAVING the False Bay coastline for small-scale fishers is at the heart of groundbreaking ocean research conducted by a UCT academic. Little is known about the chemical make-up of the water along the False Bay coast, but oceanographer Assistant Professor Sarah Fawcett and her team aim to conduct a study that will identify the sources of nitrogen pollution (excessive inputs of nutrients) to the bay and evaluate how far offshore the pollution goes.
Through a dedicated monitoring programme Fawcett hopes to understand what happens to it once it enters the water.
“Just understanding the chemistry of False Bay’s water and what affects it would provide a valuable baseline for oceanographers.” She said it would help oceanographers understand the effects of poor water quality on small-scale fishers.
“In the long term, it’s also about the livelihoods of the fishers. If we notice the water quality is poor – for instance, if high concentrations of these nutrients or pollutants associate with certain wind and weather patterns − we could use this information to warn fishers. For example, Gordon’s Bay gets very stagnant at times. From the monitoring programme, we should be able to figure out if this is likely to mean poor water quality.”
Fawcett added that the information may help fishers make smart decisions about when and where they fished.
She said science didn’t have all the answers to the histories of fish in the bay. It was important to tap into generations of local fisher knowledge of fishing patterns and sea conditions.
“We can’t measure the bay’s nutrient concentrations of 50 years ago, but we can incorporate information based on what the local fishers know about changes in fish abundance. That might tell us something about how pollutants have driven fish out of certain areas.”
Fawcett said the water quality at False Bay was better than expected, given the high population density along its shores.
“It’s thought that it is due to very rapid circulation, unlike many other bays where the water gets stuck and remains pretty stagnant. In False Bay when the southeaster is blowing, the opposite is true: water circulation is flushing out the bay, diluting it with open-ocean water.” FRIDAY DECEMBER 15 2017