South Coast Hake Biomass on the Africana Voyage 036, October 1985

The first objective of this cruise was to establish, by means of surveying and trawling between 200m and 500m water depths, the feasibility of extending the hake biomass surveys to the South Coast. The area 20 E to 25 E, from 75m to 200m water depths, has already been covered during biomass surveys by Japanese research vessels, accompanied on each occasion by one of the Institute's scientists. The feasibility of trawling shallower than 200m in this region, albeit with heavy gear, has thus already been established. The second objective was to investigate, by trawling, the depth distribution of squid in the area 23 30'E and 24 30'E, from as close as possible to the coast (i.e. as shallow as possible) to a depth of 500m.