West Coast Hake Biomass Survey on the Africana Voyage 100, February 1992

The West Coast Hake Biomass Survey was conducted on the Africana Voyage 100 from 06 February to 03 March 1992. The objectives of the cruise were to survey by means of bottom trawling the abundance of hake and other demersal species on the West Coast of South Africa; to investigate the environmental and ecological interrelationships of hake and other demersal species; to study the biology of chondrichthyan species; to investigate zooplankton scattering layers and their influence on the feeding behaviour and distribution of small hake; to investigate the feasibility of using carbon and nitrogen isotopes for tracing hake diet; to obtain coverage of chlorophyll-fluorescence distribution at the sea surface as part of an on going monitoring program; to investigate aspects of the feeding, dynamics and reproduction of zooplankton; to obtain information on the hydrology and currents on the West Coast; and to investigate vertical and horizontal distribution of hake south west of Cape Point using midwater trawling.