Sardines have hit KZN‚ but it may not be the start of the ‘greatest shoal on earth’

The KwaZulu-Natal south coast was a hive of frenzied activity and hope as fishermen netted 110 crates of sardines on Wednesday.

But‚ after about five years since the last good sardine run‚ an expert has warned that families shouldn't bring the masala out just yet because this might not herald the proper start of the "Greatest Shoal on Earth".

Cameron Johnston from Saltwater Fishing SA‚ a leading fishing forum‚ reported sightings of sardines off Scottburgh‚ about 40 minutes south of Durban‚ on Wednesday morning.

"The first net of the season is out at Scottburgh and apparently it made 20 crates of sards. There is another big baitball behind the backline and more shoals moving up the coast from Pennington and Park Rynie‚" he said.

KZN Sharks Board's Mike Anderson-Reade confirmed the haul.

"They [fishermen] netted this morning - about 110 crates at Scottburgh. It was completely out of the blue‚ hey. There's no activity with them; normally we have dolphins and gannets with the sardine run‚ but there's none of that. We suspect that it's fish that have come in from the deep. I suspect it's a flash in the pan‚ but I think tomorrow will tell‚" said Anderson-Reade.

The Sharks Board would be taking a flight south down the coast‚ right through to the former Transkei's Wild Coast‚ on Thursday - and Anderson-Reade said this would give a better idea of whether or not Wednesday's sardine landing was an indication of a full run.

"I really hope it's the start of something‚ but I have my reservations. 2012 was a very good year‚ so the last good run was some time back. Last year was a lemon; we had nothing. The two years prior we had netting‚ but it was Mickey Mouse netting. Let's hope that there's some more netting tomorrow [Thursday]‚" he said.

But Johnston was more optimistic.

"There's a shoal of over 1km long running past Scotties [Scottburgh]‚ so we should see more a little further north over the next few days. We also had reports of more shoals off of Pennington and Rocky Bay early this morning so that area should see a few more nettings‚ too. There are major winds forecast for Friday and that should drop the water temperature to below 20C‚ which is ideal for sardines‚ and hopefully that will bring more of them closer inshore‚" he said.