#Sardines: A fisherman's account

Published Jun 22, 2017

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The arrival of more than 40 000 sardines in Scottburgh on Wednesday – while unexpected – was welcomed by fishermen in the area.

The KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board said a total of 110 crates were netted in one net – each consisting of 32 dozen fish – at the main beach.

“Twenty-five crates of mackerel were also netted. Reports suggest that numerous shoals of baitfish have been seen between Scottburgh and uMtwalume and it is highly likely that some, but not all of these, are sardines,” said head of operations Mike Anderson-Reade.

These shoals were not accompanied by the normal predator activity.

“The Sharks Board will be undertaking a flight tomorrow to see if any shoals can be seen further south.

“It is generally very difficult to try to predict the movement of these fish, especially when they move in from deep offshore, which we suspect was the case (on Wednesday) morning.”

He said they would be monitoring the situation.

“The next day or so should give us a better understanding of whether the netting was a once-off or a sign of more to come.

“Shark safety gear has been removed from Scottburgh, uMgababa and Karridene at this stage.”

They said all the other shark safety gear along the coast remained in place and beaches were open for bathing.

“This may change as the run develops and more gear may be removed over the coming days, depending on the status of the sardine shoals.”

Vincent de Beer, who used to work as a commercial fisherman but now fishes in his spare time, told The Mercury yesterday that he had not been shocked by the arrival of the silvery fish.

The fisherman is also a member of the Salt Fishing South Africa club, a Facebook forum that has 39 000 members.

“When you’ve been fishing as long as I have, you get a sense of the sea.

“I knew they were coming based on the conditions we’ve been experiencing here lately.”

He attributed their arrival to a westerly wind and the fairly cold waters – between 17ºC and 19ºC – on the South Coast recently.

De Beer, who said he had been fishing for all 46 years of his life, said the activity was normally accompanied by the arrival of other marine life such as birds.

This, he said, was strangely absent this time.

“There was a shoal that was about one kilometre long, and about seven to eight pockets of fish that had become separated. They were each about the length of a rugby field.”

He said: “It was amazing how quickly word spread, thanks to social media.

“There were guys selling the fish for R850 a crate, and there was a huge crowd buying them.”

The Mercury

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