were recorded for that particular year.
The Cape yellowtail did not make the
top ten tagged species, but 521 speci-
mens were tagged. One of them was
tagged and released by Warwick Leslie
off Dassen Island on the west coast on
20 August 2011. Just 38 days later, on
19 November 2011, this fish was recap-
tured by Greg Defilippi off Stiebel
Rocks just south of Hibberdene on the
KZN south coast. In this short time this
6,7kg swam an amazing 1 746km — an
average of 58km per day.
Despite having heard many negative
comments over the years about the low
recapture rate of tagged fish — some
allege the rate is so poor that it’s simply
a total waste of funds, time and energy
— I’ve always been a keen supporter of
this initiative. Yes, the low capture rate
is fact, but surely the intrinsic value
emanating from even this single result
is absolutely priceless.
REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOUR
Information relating to the spawning
patterns, population fecundity and egg
and larval production for yellowtail in
the wild is almost non-existent, it
seems. We do, however, know that
spawning normally occurs during the
autumn and summer months —
November to February — and happens
when the sea water temperature rises
to around 18°C minimum.
Traill Witthuhn, a Struisbaai resident
and one of Agulhas’s pioneering com-
mercial anglers has been fishing the
area since 1972 and also walks around
with scarred hands. He says he’s been
privileged to observe some natural
spawning behaviour of yellowtail but
only during the early years whilst
stocks were still in abundance with
very large shoals massing in the area
annually. Sadly, as the stock was deci-
mated to a fraction of its original bio-
mass, this particular event has not been
seen for many years now.
“With shoals consisting of both
females and males closely packed
together and slowly swimming around
in circles, spawning occurs near the sur-
face. On a calm day you can actually
clearly see them circling just under-
neath the surface, but that’s only possi-
ble if you succeed in getting close
enough to the display without spooking
the shoal. You can actually witness the
colour of the water around them turn-
ing white as spawning commences. In
very clear water one can sometimes
actually see the small white puffs as
individuals ejaculate their life-giving
mixtures,” Traill said.
Bony fish commonly reproduce by
broadcast spawning, meaning an exter-
nal method of reproduction where the
female releases many unfertilised eggs
into the water, while males simultane-
ously release sperm to fertilise these
eggs. The strategy for survival is to dis-perse the fertilised eggs away from the
coast, preferably into the relative safety
of the open ocean. Less than 1% of
these fertilised organisms are destined
to survive this treacherous journey and
eventually end up as reproductive
breeding stock again.
It is interesting to note that the eggs
contain a drop of nutrient oil that pro-
vides buoyancy and sustains the
embryo as it develops inside the egg-
case. As the eggs float and drift away in
the current they become an integral
part of the zooplankton component of
Mother Nature’s unfailing marine food
chain. To survive, these tiny creatures
must then become miniature predators
themselves and feed on plankton before
migrating to more substantial rations
provided by baitfish species. Finally, the
youngsters encounter others of their
own kind to form aggregations and
learn to school.
What about the yellowtail’s culinary
qualities? Indeed they are very tasty,
and in the July/August 2017 issue of
SKI-BOATwe will discuss some of the
methods used to catch them off
Struisbaai and how to cook them once
you’ve landed them. One of South
Africa’s legendary Western Cape
Springbok sports anglers, home-grown
chef and co-author of this article, Earl
Fenwick, has offered to share his secret
yellowtail braai recipe with us. You
won’t want to miss that.70 • SKI-BOAT May/June 2017
Ruan Smal with a 23kg yellowtail
caught on a small reef off Arniston,
and (inset) Johan Smal with a 16kg
yellowtail caught at the Alphard Banks.