ASSESSING THE ABUNDANCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF EGGS OF SARDINE, SARDINOPS-SAGAX, AND ROUND HERRING, ETRUMEUS-WHITEHEADI, ON THE WESTERN AGULHAS BANK, SOUTH-AFRICA, USING A CONTINUOUS, UNDERWAY FISH EGG SAMPLER

A continuous, underway fish egg sampler (CUFES) was employed to assess the abundance and distribution of eggs of both sardine, Sardinops sag ax, and round herring, Etrumeus whiteheadi, on the Western Agulhas Ban k, South Africa, during September 1996. Samples were collected while u nderway along six inshore/offshore transects, and at stations along th e transects. Volumetric estimates of egg density (eggs m(-3)) from on- station CUFES samples were highly correlated with both volumetric and areal (eggs m(-2)) estimates of egg density from samples collected fro m CalVET net hauls at these stations, demonstrating the validity of th is novel sampling technique. Sardine and round herring eggs were encou ntered in a band running parallel to the coast and extending from 10 t o 33 nautical miles offshore to the shelf edge, and highest egg densit ies were associated with strong north-west-flowing currents in the reg ion of the shelf edge. Collecting samples while underway increased the precision of the estimate of mean egg density for sardine eggs but no t for round herring eggs. The use of CUFES in obtaining a fine-scale r esolution of sardine egg distribution, and as a tool for stock assessm ent, are discussed.