Fighting for Reef Fishes

South Africa's False Bay lies at the intersection of two formidable ocean currents – the Agulhas in the east and the Benguela in the west. Warm and cold swirl together to create an ecosystem that hosts one of the planet’s most unique communities of marine life. Before the exploitation of False Bay, a bewildering array of endemic reef fishes were present throughout the bay. Today, many reef fish stocks have collapsed. For fishermen this represents a socio-economic crisis. For scientists and conservationists, the protection of these species is a daunting battle.

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Hooked roman

A roman caught near Cape Point. Because roman are born female and change sex later in life, intensive fishing skews their sex ratio, hurting a population’s ability to bounce back.

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