Regionalism in marine biology: the convergence of ecology, economics and politics in South Africa

The South African coast includes biogeographic provinces which are quite di stinct in their abilities to sustain exploitation and in the types of explo itation they experience. As a result, no single region can act as a model f or the management of living resources around the entire coast. Instead, app ropriate management must rest on regionally based research. Past research i n marine biology focused on the west coast with much less attention being g iven to the east and south coasts, where non-commercial, subsistence-level fisheries predominate. A partial decentralisation of research focus is esse ntial. This requires commitment from national-level research bodies and som e certainty about at least medium-term funding.