I am a passionate recreational angler from KZN, and having seen how anglers over-exploit fish in this area it has sparked an interest in me to study the recreational fishery and its complex dynamics. Another factor that fueled my interest in the shore-based fishery is that there is so much that we do not know about the species targeted from the shore and how they respond to fishing activities. My honours project is investigating the spatial dynamics of important shore-based recreational fishery species by using the catch database from the RASSPL angling competitions, with the aim of identifying biodiversity hotspots and important areas for conservation for priority species in the shore-based fishery.