Durban - Sardines fever has struck again. This after a huge shoal was netted at Durban's Suncoast beach on Monday after nearly two week hiatus.
Fishing DBN (South Africa) Facebook group representative Omar Sayed said sardines were netted on Monday and Sunday morning by Goolam Essack from Full up 111. He said the nets hauled in only filled up a few crates unlike the catches down the KwaZulu-Natal south coast in previous weeks.
"Sardine Sardine Sardine. The sliver bullets have hit the Durban Beachfront. Netted this morning at Suncoast Beach. Well done guys," he wrote on Facebook.
According to the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board (KZNSB) each year in June or July along the KwaZulu-Natal coast the word gets out and, within hours, crowds of frenzied human predators 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.
Sardines have been netted at Durban's Suncoast beach on Monday. Video by
FISHING DBN (South Africa)Omar Sayed
KZNSB stated that fresh, frozen, canned, pickled or bait - whatever way you consider them, sardines (also known as pilchards) will have featured somewhere in the lives of many South Africans.
Like their close relatives, the anchovies and herrings, sardines (Sardinops sagax) live out their lives in huge shoals in the surface layers of the ocean. Although these fish are small, collectively they comprise nearly a quarter of the world's fish catch by weight, making them one of our most valuable groups of fish.
Sardines have been netted at Durban's Suncoast beach on Monday. Video by
FISHING DBN (South Africa)Omar Sayed
"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."explained the KZNSB.