Skippers’ observations of a spatial dynamic to hake aggregations may be indicative of the existence of substocks and thus warrant further investigation. Add to this that trawl skippers report changed distributional dynamics, and that scientific information shows a depressed biomass and failure to rebuild the Namibian M. capensis stock, and it is possible that range contraction and improving knowledge of movements may be sustaining the availability of M. capensis to commercial fishing in the context of declining abundance.