Marine resource use assessment within the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area (TMNP MPA)

Anchor were appointed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to assist in collecting data on the current status of economically and ecologically important marine invertebrates within the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area (TMNP MPA) as well as to undertake an assessment of marine resource use in the area. Understanding the state of marine resources and how people use the ocean space is imperative for the improved management of the MPA. The project aims to provide South African National Parks (SANParks) with scientific, spatial information on marine resources and human use thereof in order to support ongoing management of the TMNP MPA. It also serves as an important set of data against which future conditions (effectiveness of the MPA) can be measured. In 2000, 2003 and 2019 three comprehensive peninsula-wide SCUBA surveys were conducted to collect data on commercially important macro-invertebrates (Funded by the Table Mountain Fund). This work supported the use of MPAs as a protection measure for over-exploited macro-invertebrates, however, to strengthen the science, it was recommended that further invertebrate data was collected (Task 1 - dive surveys) as part of regular (every 3-5 year) long-term monitoring, in combination with an assessment of resource use around the peninsula (Task 2 - aerial surveys). This project provides new data on both these elements from surveys carried out in 2023 and 2024.