Abstract
M.Sc. (Zoology)
The present investigation was conducted over a period of five years,
from 1981 to 1986. The study comprised creel surveys on four
selected angling waters in the Transvaal. Information obtained
included the fish species caught, the numbers and mass contributed
by each species towards the total catches, and the number of anglers
who visited the angling waters during each month of the period of
survey. This investigation was complemented by fish population
studies in 1984 on each of the waterbodies concerned. The
information obtained in this way was compared with results on fish
populations estimates obtained during earlier studies, when use was
made of mark recapture investigations of the angling fish species of
these waters. In view of the dramatic changes that took ~lace in the
population structures of some of these fish species over a period of
10 to 20 years, supported by recent fish catch statistics on anglers
obtained during the creel survey, certain recommendations are made
aimed at the improvement of the management of these and other
popular angling waters in the Transvaal.