Top fish catches in metric tons from the latest year with data available, 2022. Data from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
| Rank | Fish Species | Metric Tons |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern African anchovy | 171,936 |
| 2 | Cape hakes | 115,781 |
| 3 | Nile crocodile | 108,642 |
| 4 | Whitehead's round herring | 66,907 |
| 5 | Pacific sardine | 32,973 |
| 6 | Cape horse mackerel | 20,113 |
| 7 | Silver scabbardfish | 6,645 |
| 8 | Devil anglerfish | 6,633 |
| 9 | Kelps nei | 6,443 |
| 10 | Albacore | 5,519 |
| 11 | Snoek | 4,876 |
| 12 | Cape Hope squid | 4,484 |
| 13 | Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel | 3,667 |
| 14 | Atlantic chub mackerel | 3,615 |
| 15 | Kingklip | 3,500 |
| 16 | Marine fishes nei | 3,018 |
| 17 | Cape dory | 2,008 |
| 18 | Yellowfin tuna | 1,372 |
| 19 | Panga seabream | 1,353 |
| 20 | Blackbelly rosefish | 1,154 |
| 21 | Freshwater fishes nei | 900 |
| 22 | Atlantic pomfret | 882 |
| 23 | Cape gurnard | 804 |
| 24 | Southern spiny lobster | 785 |
| 25 | Bigeye tuna | 655 |
| 26 | Carpenter seabream | 631 |
| 27 | Mozambique lobster | 584 |
| 28 | Cape elephantfish | 579 |
| 29 | Swordfish | 569 |
| 30 | Yellowtail amberjack | 511 |
| 31 | Rays and skates nei | 478 |
| 32 | Cape rock lobster | 469 |
| 33 | Gelidium seaweeds | 389 |
| 34 | Pink geryon | 290 |
| 35 | Octopuses, etc. nei | 274 |
| 36 | Southern meagre(=Mulloway) | 270 |
| 37 | Various squids nei | 202 |
| 38 | Hottentot seabream | 179 |
| 39 | Mullets nei | 178 |
| 39 | Knife shrimp | 178 |
| 41 | Slinger seabream | 177 |
| 42 | Geelbek croaker | 150 |
| 43 | Southern bluefin tuna | 143 |
| 44 | Shortfin mako | 130 |
| 45 | Mud sole | 119 |
| 46 | White stumpnose | 111 |
| 47 | Smooth-hounds nei | 85 |
| 48 | Tope shark | 76 |
| 49 | Blue shark | 58 |
| 50 | Santer seabream | 50 |
Data from FAO. 2025. Global Capture Production. In: Fisheries and Aquaculture.