Durban - Big catches of sardines on the Durban beachfront on Tuesday caused great excitement, with even the queue for medicine at Addington Hospital dissipating as people ran to the beach to watch.
The slippery silver fish had eluded fishermen in Durban for more than five years. Fishermen on boats scoured the waters close to shore in search of the fish between Blue Lagoon and uShaka Beach on Tuesday.
Tony Outar Moon, a seasoned fisherman, said there was a lot of sardine activity on the South Coast and it was bound to continue on Durban beaches.
“The sardines had been in deeper waters in the past few years. It is hard to predict where they will show up next. We sell them by crates to fish shop owners, street vendors and bait shops,” he said.
The fish were selling on the beach for R30 a dozen. A net full of sardines could fill 400 crates. A crate of sardines was selling for R700. About 60 crates were netted within a few hours on Tuesday
Fazel Fareed said sardines took many hours to spot and net.
Harris Naidoo a sardine netter from Scottburgh, explained how they caught them.
“We prepare our nets into a left and right portion and load them into different containers on the boat. Keeping the boat steady is difficult as we look into the water to spot dark patches. We drop the net and circle around the shoal of fish forming a horse-shoe shape. The workers on the shore pull on the ropes that are attached to the nets until the nets come ashore.”
Fried sardines were a delicacy said Zubeida Essop, 63, of Overport, who abandoned her wait for medication from Addington Hospital and rushed to the shore.
“I was in the waiting room when a lady came in happily telling her relative that sardines were being caught on the beach. We did not know if we must leave the line and run out. There was excitement in the hospital waiting room,” Essop said.
KZN Sharks Board operations head, Mike Anderson-Reade, said staff were monitoring the beaches.
“There appears to be no other marine activity of any sorts with these fish, therefore the shark nets gear will not be removed at this time. Thus far there have been no captures of any other marine life,” he said.
Daily News