Trends in a recreational fishery for mussels in eastern South Africa, based on postal, telephone and online surveys

Abstract The intertidal brown mussel Perna perna is targeted by recreational and subsistence fisheries in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The recreational mussel fishery is monitored by off-site postal, telephone and online questionnaire surveys, assessed in this study. Trends in fisher avidity (proportion of permit holders that went fishing), mean number of outings undertaken per quarter year and catch per unit effort (CPUE, as numbers of mussels collected per outing) between 2002 and 2015 were investigated, based on survey responses and available permit sales data. Fisher avidity was greater during summer, for fishers