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6625341 
Journal Article 
Subsistence shellfish harvesting in the Maputaland Marine Reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Sandy beach organisms 
Kyle, R; Robertson, WD; Birnie, SL 
1997 
Yes 
Biological Conservation
ISSN: 0006-3207 
ELSEVIER SCI LTD 
OXFORD 
82 
2 
173-182 
English 
WOS:A1997XR66900007 
When the Maputaland Marine Reserve was proclaimed in 1986, conservation authorities held divergent opinions on whether traditional subsistence harvesting of the intertidal resources should be allowed to continue. A monitoring programme was therefore instituted, with the assistance of the local community, to quantify the intertidal harvest as a first step to assessing its sustainability. Catch and effort data for ghost crabs Ocypode spp. and mole crabs Emerita austroafricana and Hippa ovalis over a 7-year period are discussed here. Total (day and night) harvests declined from 146000 ghost crabs and 129000 mole crabs in 1989 to 86000 ghost crabs and 80000 mole crabs in 1993. However, effort also declined and the mean annual catch per unit effort for night catches, which comprised 89% of the total catch, changed little, averaging 28.3 ghost crabs and 24.5 mole crabs per harvester per night. About 8% of the ghost crab harvest is sold, generating an annual income of R1700. There ape no indications that harvesting of ghost crabs and mole crabs is unsustainable, and harvesting effort appears to be decreasing. No change in management is recommended. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. 
subsistence harvesting; crabs; Ocypode; Emerita; South Africa