SAFER Lab collaborates with RASSPL anglers to collect samples at 2018 Nationals

Members of the SAFER Lab RASSPL research team observe anglers during the RASSPL 2018 National angling competition.

SAFER Lab has just returned from the Rock and Surf Super Pro League (RASSPL) National Angling competition where the research team collected various catch-and-release data. The RASSPL competition gave the SAFER Lab a fantastic opportunity to observe angler catch-and-release behaviour, as well as fish physiological data associated with marine shore-based catch-and-release angling. This year’s RASSPL nationals, hosted by a local franchise (the "Kowie Crackers") presented the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the anglers’ skill to collect live fish for ongoing research by SAFER Lab members focused on South African coastal linefish species. The team collected bronze bream (Pachymetopon grande) and blacktail (Diplodus sargus capensis) from anglers over the first two days of the competition. The fish are currently being housed in the Aquatic Ecophysiology Research Platform laboratory in Grahamstown and the Port Alfred Marine Research Laboratory. The research aims to better understand the long-term physiological consequences of catch-and-release marine shore-based angling.

A big thank you to RASSPL and all the competitors who so willingly cooperated with our research efforts. Our ongoing collaboration with the RASSPL angling group is a perfect example of how research and angling groups can work together towards a common goal.