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South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Project
 

ORI STAFF PROFILES

Rudy van der Elst - Director: ORI
Michael Schleyer - Deputy Director: ORI
Alison Moor - Project Liaison Officer
Angela Garnham - Research Assistant
Bernadine Everett - Scientist
Bronwyn Palmer - Scientist
Bruce Mann - Senior Scientist
Camilla Floros- Scientist
Catherine Stow - Research Assistant
Chris Wilkinson - Field Officer
Denis Rouillard - GIS Technician
Derick Young- GIS Technician
Desmond Hayes- Scientific Technician
Elinor Bullen - Scientific Technician
Erika Steyn - Assistant Scientist
Fiona MacKay - Senior Scientist
Grace Samuriwo - Librarian
Jade Maggs - Senior Scientific Technician
Jeff Maullin - Field Officer
Jessica Pillay - Receptionist
Johan Groeneveld - Senior Scientist
Marius Els - Data Capturer
Mirenda Selepe - Assistant Librarian
Musa Khumalo - Senior Scientific Technician
Ramini Naidoo - Personal Assistant
Renuka Govender - Scientific Technician
Sean Fennessy - Senior Scientist



Post-graduate students


PROF. RUDY VAN DER ELST
DIRECTOR: ORI

MSc (University of Natal, 1975)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since 1969.


Engaged in a diversity of marine resource-use and conservation studies, especially those relating to management problems in small-scale, recreational and artisanal fisheries, including:
Investigations into estuarine fish populations and sustainable resource use.
Stock assessment and biology of linefish, including the development of management strategies and their applications.
Development of long-term monitoring and assessment strategies including the National Marine Linefish System (NMLS) catch and effort programme and the nation-wide fish tagging project, both of which involve thousands of end-users.
Studies have also included elasmobranch fishes and large oceanic predators such as billfish, swordfish and white sharks.
Currently participating in a number of collaborative programmes involving other countries of the West Indian Ocean region.
Provides decision support to conservation managers and government officials and has assisted with environmental and fisheries policy formulation for national and regional government.
 Supervision of post-graduate students.


PROF. MICHAEL SCHLEYER
DEPUTY DIRECTOR: ORI

PhD (University of Natal, 1981)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since 1973.


Leader of the ORI Reef Biodiversity Programme and the Invertebrate Fisheries Programme.
Research experience includes:
Species composition of corals, sponges and tunicates on KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) reefs on the East Coast of Africa.
Community structure on representative reefs.
Extent of reproduction, larval dispersal and recruitment of corals.
Environmental features that influence the distribution of the major reef organisms, including the oceanographic parameters that effect larval dispersal.
Interactions between the reef organisms and their production of toxic secondary metabolites.
The condition of the reefs in terms of human and climatic disturbances that result in reef damage and coral bleaching.
Development of effective management plans for the reefs.
Supervision of post-graduate students.
Provides decision support to conservation managers and government agencies.


DR SEAN FENNESSY
SENIOR SCIENTIST

PhD (University of Natal, 2001)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since April 1989.

Leader of the ORI Offshore Fisheries Programme.

Research experience includes:
Investigation of non-target species (bycatch) of prawn trawlers operating off the coast of KZN, a description of the biology of the major fish species, and an assessment of the impact of trawlers on other fishery sectors.
Investigating methods to reduce the bycatch caught by prawn trawlers on the KZN coast.
Biological investigation and stock assessments of several species of fin fish (Epinephelus spp, Pomadasys commersonnii, Polysteganus coeruleopunctasus).
Surveys of the commercial and recreational hook and line fisheries in the provinces of KZN and the Eastern Cape, involving interviews with fishers and inspections of catches.
Co-ordinates the fisheries science module for MSc and BSc (Hons) students.
Supervises post-graduate students.
Provides decision support to conservation managers and government agencies.


DR JOHAN GROENEVELD
SENIOR SCIENTIST

PhD (University of Cape Town, 2000)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since June 2008.

Leader of the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Project (SWIOFP) team at ORI, and Regional coordinator for SWIOFP research on Crustacean resources in 5 countries.

Previous employment experience includes:
 Senior scientist and head of lobster research / management at Marine and Coastal Management (MCM; 1995-2006).
 Specialist scientist and fisheries advisor to the Ministry of Fisheries Wealth in the Sultanate of Oman (2006-2008).

Expertise includes:
 Biology, impacts of fishing gear, and sustainable management of crustacean resources, particularly deep-water and near-shore lobster populations.
 Migrations, larval dispersal, and genetic population structure of widespread (and trans-boundary) lobster resources in the SWIO and the southern Atlantic Ocean.
 Assessment of commercial fisheries for certification by Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) or other certifying bodies.
 Development of surveys at sea to explore new and existing fish resources.
 Training of technical and scientific staff, and development of externally funded projects.
 Supervision of post-graduate students at the Universities of KwaZulu-Natal and Stellenbosch.
 Research Associate at Stellenbosch University.
 Publication of approximately 40 peer-reviewed scientific articles in international journals, and numerous popular articles and unpublished technical reports.


MR BRUCE MANN
SENIOR SCIENTIST

MSc (Rhodes University, 1992)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since 1992.

Leader of ORI's Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) Programme and the Linefish Research Programme.

Research experience includes:
 Study of the biology of two reef fish species in the Tsitsikamma National Park.
 Investigation of the multiple usage of Lake St Lucia's fish resources.
 Implementation of an experimental subsistence gill-net fishery at St Lucia.
 Surveys of the commercial, recreational and subsistence linefisheries in the provinces of KZN and the Eastern Cape, which
formed part of the first National Linefish Survey.
 Editor of a book on the status of 102 South African linefish species.
 Investigations on the age, growth and stock assessment of a number of important linefish species.
 Marine biodiversity survey along the Pondoland coast with the intention to establish a large MPA in this region.
 Establishment of long-term fish monitoring and tagging studies in the St Lucia MPA and the Pondoland MPA.
 Supervision of long-term monitoring projects at ORI including the Tagging Project, National Marine Linefish System – KZN Recreational Data and the Boat Launch Site Monitoring System.
 Aerial surveys to determine angler effort along the KZN coast
 Current chairman of the South African Marine Linefish Management Association (SAMLMA).
 Supervision of post-graduate students and training of conservation staff and resource users.
 Provision of decision support to conservation managers and government agencies.


MS FIONA MACKAY
SENIOR SCIENTIST

MSc (University of Zululand, 1996)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since March 2005.

Previous experience includes:
Collaborative studies integrating abiotic (water quality and habitat) and biotic aspects (community structure and community metrics) for selected estuarine types.
Investigation of current status, baseline surveys and biomonitoring of estuaries, including comparison of succession trends in similar estuaries and distinguishing anthropogenic from climatic effects as manifested in zoobenthic fauna.
Description of the state of a river - coastal lake - estuarine linked ecosystem, the effect of an intrabasin transfer on selected components of the resident fauna and rapid assessment of Instream Flow Requirements of the invertebrates.
Scenario-based biotic responses and implications to potential freshwater deficits on macrobenthos, macrocrustacea and avifauna of selected estuaries with decision support under different freshwater yield scenarios to the estuarine/marine, coastal lake and river environments.
Importance of northern KZN estuaries as conduits for mass recruitment of Varuna Litterata crab megalopae.
Port of Richards Bay environmental monitoring including development of monitoring programmes and investigation of ballast water introduced marine species (according to CRIMP protocols).
Ecological impacts of dredge spoil disposal on sandy beach, estuarine and nearshore marine ecosystems.
Specialist ecological investigator for various projects (sewage and paper mill effluents, solid structure developments in protected areas etc.) to limit and mitigate negative impacts to coastal aquatic environments.

MS. BERNADINE EVERETT
SCIENTIST

MSc (University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since 1998.

Research experience includes:
 Database development and programme coordination of WIOFish - a large WIO programme on small-scale fisheries involving most countries of t
he East African coast, including training of users.
 National data component coordinator for the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Project during year 1 of the project.
 Surveys of recreational and commercial fisheries in the Richards Bay region.
 Specialist input to the EIA process for the Point small-craft harbour.
 Conducted the environmental impact assessment process for the development of the proposed Victoria Embankment Waterfront.
 Monitoring of fish and sand prawns in the Durban Harbour.
 Database design and management for various research projects.
 Production and reproduction of graphics and maps.
ORI website design and maintennance.


MS. BRONWYN PALMER
SCIENTIST

MSc (Rhodes University, 2009)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since March 2009.

Research responsibilities include:
 Serving as the focal point and providing coordination of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) research at ORI, especially as a
service to the KwaZulu-Natal government.
 Undertaking research into ICZM issues relevant to KZN with particular attention given to aspects of the new ICZM Act.
 Assembly of key spatial data sets that define the coast and its assets.
 Generating and disseminating scientific information as a decision support tool in the ICZM.
 Providing support in the development of data management systems and GIS-based tools to ensure ORI provides an excellent service in ICZM issues.


MS. CAMILLA FLOROS
SCIENTIST

MSc (University of Natal, 2002)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since May 2010.

Member of the ORI Reef Biodiversity Programme.

Key research areas and responsibilities include:
 
Updating and referencing of the ORI hard coral collection with the addition of live and skeletal photographs.
Managing the coral reef database.
Investigating the relationships between corals and their associated invertebrates.
Assessing the effects of human activities on coral reef fish communities.
Assessing the biodiversity on the KwaZulu-Natal reefs.
Developing and implementing of monitoring protocols for the KwaZulu-Natal reefs using indicator species.

Camilla recently completed her PhD through the Oceanographic Research Institute entitled "An assessment of the fish communities on South African coral reefs".


MS ERIKA STEYN
ASSISTANT SCIENTIST

MSc (University of Stellenbosch, 2002)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since 2002.

Research experience includes:
 Invertebrate ecology.
 Food conditioning of sharks.
 Inshore/ offshore migration and larval recruitment of East Coast rock lobster off the KwaZulu-Natal coast.
 Small-scale artisanal rock lobster fishery along the Eastern Cape (Transkei) coast.

   

MR. MUSA KHUMALO
SENIOR SCIENTIFIC TECHNICIAN

BTech (Durban Institute of Technology, 2001)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since 2004.

Responsibilities include:
Maintenance of the Boat Launch Site Monitoring System.
Capture and preliminary analysis of boat launch site data.
Assistance with preparation of reports from the boat launch site data.
Provide ad hoc assistance in other ORI projects.


MR JADE MAGGS
SENIOR SCIENTIFIC TECHNICIAN

BSc (University of South Africa, 2009)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since May 2006.

Previous experience includes:
Inventory of fish species occurring in and around the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park.

Responsibilities include:
Management of the recreational component of the National Marine Linefish System (NMLS) in KZN. The NMLS is a database containing catch and effort data for the South African line-fishery since 1984.
 Reporting of NMLS progress to Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) and Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife (EKZNW).
 Compilation of biological data reports based on data from the NMLS for internal and external parties.
 Long-term monitoring of catch and effort trends in the recreational line-fishery.
 Informing the angling community of trends in recreational angling through direct feedback and articles in the media.
 Assistance on other internal programmes such as the Pondoland Marine Protected Area fish tagging programme, Boat Launch Site Monitoring System and the ORI Tagging Project.
 Working on an MSc at the University of KwaZulu-Natal entitled: Evaluation of a large “no-take” zone in protecting key line-fish species in the Pondoland Marine Protected Area.


MS ELINOR BULLEN
SCIENTIFIC TECHNICIAN

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since 1985.

 Operator of the marine linefish tagging database.
 Extensive liaison with researchers, conservation managers and other participants in the tagging project.
 Extensive liaison with anglers who voluntarily participate in the project, including screening of potential participants and providing feedback on recaptures.


MRS RENUKA GOVENDER
SCIENTIFIC TECHNICIAN

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since 1992.

 Responsible for accurate data capture on the National Marine Linefish System (NMLS).
 Liaison with officials and programme operators at Marine and Coastal Management (MCM).
 Training of students on operation of the NMLS.


MR DESMOND HAYES
SCIENTIFIC TECHNICIAN

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since 2007.

 Heads the fisheries observer team.
 He has extensive experience in both project management and maritime matters.


MR JEFF MAULLIN
FIELD OFFICER

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since November 2008.

Responsibilities include:
 Maintenance of boats, dive gear and sampling equipment.
 Planning and executing field activities in collaboration with scientists.
 Assisting with taking and recording scientific measurements including physical and biological data.


MR CHRIS WILKINSON
FIELD OFFICER

BTech (Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2007)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since October 2008.

Responsibilities include:
 Maintenance of boats, dive gear and sampling equipment.
 Planning and executing field activities in collaboration with scientists.
 Assisting with taking and recording scientific measurements including physical and biological data.


MS ANGELA GARNHAM
RESEARCH ASSISTANT

BSc (Hons) (University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since April 2009.

Responsibilities include:

Assisting with estuarine research projects.
Undertaking field trips and laboratory activities related to estuarine biomonitoring and health studies.
Maintenance of macrobenthic reference collections.
Identification and enumeration of macrobenthic organisms.


MS CATHERINE STOW
RESEARCH ASSISTANT

BSc (Hons) (University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since 2007.

Research experience includes:

Studied macrobenthos of the Kosi Bay estuarine lake system.

Responsibilities include:

Assisting with estuarine and near-shore research projects.
Undertaking field trips and laboratory activities related to estuarine biomonitoring and health studies.
Maintenance of macrobenthic reference collections.
Identification and enumeration of macrobenthic organisms.


MR DERICK YOUNG
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS TECHNICIAN

BSc (Hons) (University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since July 2008.

Responsibilities include:
Model the effects of extreme wave run-up on the KwaZulu-Natal coast using GIS.
Develop a coastal vulnerability index for the KwaZulu-Natal coast, using GIS.
Maintain ORI's GeoNetwork.
Perform spatial requests.


MR DENIS ROUILLARD
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS TECHNICIAN

MSc (Murdoch University, 2008)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since October 2009.

Responsibilities include:
Spatial analysis of large and long-term environmental and fishery data sets in order to maximise their value and application of such data.
Provide specialist skills to research staff in several aspects of GIS.


MS GRACE SAMURIWO
LIBRARIAN

Higher National Diploma in Library and Information Science (Harare Polytechnic College, Zimbabwe)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since June 2008.

Responsibilities include:
 Provide information needs of ORI Scientists and other staff members from our library collection; Inter Library Loan Services and from subscribed
Scientific Journal Publishers on internet.
 Subscribe to journals, order requested books; process received requests and make them available for loan.
 Receive Scientists Publications and integrate them into the Organization's system of Referencing.
 Involved in periodic user awareness of new journals and other publications in the library.

MS MIRENDA SELEPE
ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN

National Diploma in Library and Information studies (Durban University of Technology)

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since January 2010.

Responsibilities include:
Cataloguing of journals and reprints.
 Checking of journal issues and claiming missing issues in good time.
 Binding and cataloguing of ORI data and unpublished reports.
 Scanning of the UKZN theses.
 Attend to daily requests and provide user assistance in the library.
 Charging and discharging of library materials.

 Doing the inter-library loan request from users and make follow up when necessary.
 Displaying of new books and journals.
 Shelving and shelve reading of books and journal.

MR MARIUS ELS
DATA CAPTURER


Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since 2007.

Responsible for data capture on the BLSMS and the NMLS online system.
Provides ad hoc assistance to ORI staff.

MS ALISON MOOR
PROJECT LIAISON OFFICER



Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since 2005.

 Responsible for co-ordination of research projects.
 Liaison with funding agencies.


MRS RAMINI NAIDOO
PERSONAL ASSISTANT

Employed at the Oceanographic Research Institute since 2001.

 Provides secretarial and administrative support to ORI's team of scientists and support staff.


MRS. JESSICA PILLAY
RECEPTIONIST



 Switchboard operator and receptionist for SAAMBR since 2002.

 Provides administrative assistance where required.


CURRENT POST-GRADUATE STUDENTS
Name Degree Project Supervisor/s University
Phanor Montoya-Maya PhD

Coral reef connectivity

Prof M.H. Schleyer UKZN 
Stuart Dunlop MSc KwaZulu-Natal linefish survey Prof R.P. van der Elst Mr B.Q. Mann UKZN
Ashley Grimmer MSc Coral reef processes Prof M.H. Schleyer UKZN
Justin Hart MSc Coral reef processes Prof M.H. Schleyer UKZN
Catherine Stow MSc Structure of macrobenthic feeding guilds as a function of estuarine characteristics; a decadal study of South African estuaries. Ms F. MacKay UKZN
Candice Untiedt MSc Structural dynamics and changes in trophic communities of infauna across the Natal Bight. Ms F. MacKay UKZN
Liesel Hein MSc Biodiversity and community structure of the KwaZulu-Natal continental shelf soft sediment infauna. Ms F. MacKay UKZN
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