Sardines Update - 2018

Durban - Sardines are expected to be spotted along KwaZulu-Natal beaches in the coming weeks, according to Mike Anderson­-Reade, head of operations at the KZN Sharks Board.
The board had its first monitoring flight of the 2018 sardine season last Thursday.

Anderson-Reade said numerous shoals of bait fish were observed along the flight route. However, the first sign of sardines accompanied by associated predator activity was seen south of Mazeppa on the Eastern Cape coast, 210km south of KZN.

“My team and I will be flying to the Eastern Cape this week to confirm these sightings,” said Anderson-Reade.

Small, fast-moving pockets of sardines were already present off the KZN coast, he said. He believed nettings by commercial seine netters might take place in the coming weeks.

“We usually expect the sardines to arrive by the second week of June, but nothing is ever certain.”

Anderson-Reade reminisced that, when he was younger, it was always “a definite” during the July school holidays that sardine netting would take place.

“Nowadays, we have to hope that the sardines will show up in numbers,” said Reade.

According to the board’s findings, many shoals of bait fish are visible off the KZN coastline. Since it is difficult to determine the different species of bait fish from the air, the board has been sampling some of these shoals and found that they consisted mainly of mackerel, East Coast round herring, torpedo scads and even sardines mixed in the shoals.

The board’s main interest in the annual run is to ensure that any sardine shoals accompanied by large groups of predators are monitored and that the shark safety gear is managed, to minimise any negative environmental impact of the gear.

Source: External Link: www.iol.co.za

Ronald Mathuray

Jun 12, 2018 - 09:48

They have arrived. June 12th. Sardines netted at Port Edward, and now a second netting at Park Rynie