Oi… This is a very complex and controversial subject in both scientific and angling circles.
It is very difficult to comment without doing a full ecological study (well, I was taught not to comment without necessary results for proof) but I will try.
To start with, bass is an “alien†species (meaning that it is not indigenous) and is an “invasive†species (meaning that it tends to easily adapt to an environment, and tend to out-compete existing species). Thus (Bassers, please do not rip my head of… yet) they are not supposed to be in our waters in the first place. Although I enjoy bass angling a lot myself, no one can get around the fact that they have done extensive damage to many of our indigenous species. The bass angling industry is a multi-million Rand industry, and surely must have an impact on the economy, but it comes at a price.
Uncontrolled harvesting of fish in any water body is always troublesome, and can never have any good consequences! No matter what the species, the aim of these netting practices is to remove as much as possible to serve as food and a source of income. Although one can try to understand the plight of some of the culprits, it can never be justified in my opinion. Money is the root of all evil as usual! If netting were to take place on a subsistence basis (a practice that have been going on for thousands of years with little ill effect on fish populations in big water bodies), the netters would take what they need, and stop at that until the next time the need arises to collect food. However, with the plethora of hungry mouths in close quarters to the dams, there is a lucrative market for the netter and soon the once subsistence netter turns into a “fish magnate†and syndicates develop that have the “power†to threaten and bribe any authority trying to intervene (with which I also have a gripe, but that is another story!)
Thus, although it is very controversial to protect bass and the bass fishing industry, it is always sad to see healthy beautiful animals removed from a body of water for pure financial gain.
It would be difficult to tell to what extent the netting is affecting the bass population at RDW as I have never even been there myself. The netting of brooding mothers will definitely have a significant effect on both the numbers of bass (recruitment) as well as the average size of fish landed, as the whoppers are not called “beeg mommas†for nothing. Factors that come into play include the removal of competition (food, space, and breeding grounds), changes in baitfish populations, change in age and sex structures of the remaining bass etc. One should also take into account other natural and anthropological environmental effects such as the changing climate, chemical pollution, biological pollution, water abstraction (concentrating substances in the remaining water). All of these aspects can work together or against each other in a complex web that will be difficult to unravel even by scientific studies!
This brings up another extremely important point that has been mentioned…Resource Management! This is something that is creating huge stirs in aquatic science circles as we speak, and have been the cause of much controversy of late. Accusations are already flying in all directions between governmental agencies, NGO’s, scientists, politicians etc. etc. The bottom line is however that none of this is doing any good for our water resources!!! Our water resources are declining in quality and quantity at an alarming rate, and serious intervention is needed if we are to save our drinking water resources, never mind recreational resources. We definitely need more scientists and water resource managers in SA, but they should also be provided with the necessary support and funding to do something about the state of our waters.
