WATCH | First crates of sardine netted, crates R1,200 each

The crates of sardines netted from the “first shoal” of the annual sardine run were advertised for R1,200 each on Sunday. 

However, the price dropped immediately as there were not many buyers and most of the silver fish were hawked on the side of the road.  

The KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board’s Wayne Harrison told TimesLIVE on Monday the fish were sold by the dozen.  

There was little frenzy when the first nets of the season were pulled off Elysium beach on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast. 

“By Sunday there was sardine activity stretching from the Pumula area heading northwards. Attempts were made to net at Pumula, but due to a large shore break and surf conditions, the fish were lost out of the nets. Then there were attempts to net at Hibberdene and once again the same story. One of the nets got snagged on rocks. There were three attempts but all failed,” Harrison said. 

“Heading northwards to Elysium, there a chap managed to net but lost most of his sardines. They were spilt because the net got snagged on rocks. Then a second, third and fourth net went in. Most of these nets ranged from about 30 up to 60 to 80 crates.”

He said those nets were considered the first nets of the season.  

However, the activity has died down, and the unpredictable fish have, once again, left KwaZulu-Natal guessing as to when they will make their appearance.  

Every winter‚ most often in June or July‚ millions of sardines leave the cold waters off Cape Point and make their way up the coast to KwaZulu-Natal. 

Each year holidaymakers flock to the province to catch a glimpse of the spectacle dubbed the Greatest Shoal on Earth, and includes sharks‚ birds and dolphins in a feeding frenzy as they prey on the sardines. 

TimesLIVE

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