Joy for netters as sardines caught in Port Shepstone frenzy

Sardines nets being hauled in on Wednesday near Bazley Beach in KwaZulu-Natal. Picture Nolene Outar.

Sardines nets being hauled in on Wednesday near Bazley Beach in KwaZulu-Natal. Picture Nolene Outar.

Published Jun 18, 2020

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Durban - Three nets have been cast into the sea as the sardine run frenzy continues off Oslo Beach near Port Sheptsone on Thursday. 

Despite the cloudy overcast weather sardine seine netters had risen early to hopefully haul in shoals of the fish on Thursday. 

Netters are monitoring the KwaZulu-Natal south coast areas between eManzimtoti and Port Shepstone using boats, planes and spotters. 

Seasoned netter Brahmanand Tony Outar said more than 400 crates of sardines were netted on Wednesday near Bazley Beach. 

Veer Hiramun, administrator of the Facebook group Fishing DBN-South Africa, said he was waiting for feedback from netters in Port Shepstone. 

Ugu South Coast Tourism said sardine activity had increased as the winter chill set in.

According to Ugu South Coast Tourism the Sardine Run is an annual attraction whereby sardine shoals move northwards along the coastline, attracting marine life and seine netters. 

Each year in June or July along the KwaZulu-Natal coast the word gets out and, within hours, crowds of frenzied people converge on the area to join sharks, gamefish, marine mammals and birds in a feeding orgy. It is a time of plenty for all as large shoals of sardines move in a band up the coast. 

The KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board Maritime Centre of Excellence (KZNSB) is mandated to be a global leader in bather protection against shark while minimising environmental impact, thus promoting tourism. The KwaZulu-Natal coastline is the only coastline with 37 beaches equipped with bather safety gear owned and maintained by the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board Maritime Centre of Excellence in South Africa.

Accroding to the KZNSB sardines are cold-water fish and are usually associated with areas of cold ocean upwelling, where deeper, cooler, nutrient-rich water currents surge to the surface when they strike shallow coastal areas. Sardines are commonly found in enormous shoals on the west coasts of California, South America, Japan, Australia and, of course, southern Africa

Daily News

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