Working in Africa brings with it a wealth of challenges, but more importantly, opportunities and partnerships. We work closely with government departments to integrate genetic and genomic tools into fisheries management. Our main projects have centered around the Cape hakes and kingklip and we have over ten years experience in this field. In 2020 we were awarded a Biodiversa grant (in collaboration with partners in Denmark, Portugal and Germany) to understand the genomics of climate change adaptation and future distributions of key marine fisheries.
 
Selected key papers:

• Schulze M, von der Heyden S, Japp D, Singh L, Durholtz D, Kapula VK, Ndjaula H, Henriques R. (2020) Supporting fisheries management with genomic tools: a case study of kingklip (Genypterus capensis) off southern Africa. Frontiers Marine Science 7: 557146
  
• Henriques R, von der Heyden S, Lipinksi MR, du Toit N, Kainge P, Bloomer P, Matthee CA. (2016) Spatio-temporal genetic structure and the effects of long-term fishing in two partially sympatric offshore demersal fishes. ​Molecular Ecology 25: 5843-5861
  
• Henriques R, von der Heyden S, Matthee CA. (2016) When homoplasy mimics hybridization: a case study of Cape hakes (Merluccius paradoxusand M. capensis). PeerJ 4:e1827
  
• von der Heyden S, Lipinski MR, Matthee CA. (2010) Remarkably low mtDNA control region diversity in an abundant demersal fish. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 55: 1183-1188
  
• Teske PR, Forget FRG, Cowley PD, von der Heyden S, Beheregaray LB. (2010) Connectivity between marine reserves and exploited areas in the philopatric reef fish Chrysoblephus laticeps (Teleostei: Sparidae). Marine Biology, 157: 2029-2042
  
• von der Heyden S, Groeneveld JC, Matthee CA (2007) ‘Long current to nowhere?' – genetic connectivity of Jasus tristani in the southern Atlantic Ocean. African Journal of Marine Science  29: 491-497