Initial assessment of the South African round herring (Etrumeus whiteheadi) resource using data from 1988 to 2010

De Moor, Carryn L; Butterworth, Doug S

Initial assessment of the South African round herring (Etrumeus whiteheadi) resource using data from 1988 to 2010

Working Paper

2010

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Marine Resource Assessment and Management Group

Faculty

Faculty of Science

Abstract

An initial assessment of the South African Round Herring (Etrumeus whiteheadi) resource, commonly referred to as Red Eye, has been undertaken. Considering the proportion of females in different reproductive stages, Roel and Melo (1990) report that, although older round herring appear to be reproductively active throughout the year, the smaller, more abundant fish are reproductively active for just a short period in the winter, with a peak in June. Their histological analysis indicated peak spawning in May, July, August and November, with no data available for April, June, September or October. The abundance of round herring eggs and larvae per station from the CELP program (August 1977 - August 1978) indicates a very low level of spawning between January and April, with a peak in egg numbers in August and a peak in larvae in October (van der Westhuizen pers. comm.). Taking this into consideration, together with the timing of the recruit survey, the round herring will be modelled to have an annual birth date of 1 June. The model predicted (just turned) 1 year olds on 1 June will therefore be assumed to correspond with the May survey estimates of recruitment.

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