Sardine fever hits KZN south coast

18 June 2018 - 11:36
By Nivashni Nair
The sardine catch at Pennington Beach on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast.
Image: JACKIE CLAUSEN The sardine catch at Pennington Beach on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast.

Sardine fever is growing in KwaZulu-Natal as silver ribbons of the tiny fish appeared at Pennington on the south coast on Monday morning.

Commercial fishermen‚ scouting the coastline since the first sardine activity was spotted a week ago‚ netted sardines near the Pennington Ski Boat Club.

Abed Khan was preparing his boat to go out to fill his baskets. On Sunday‚ he was among several fisherman who netted sardines at Ramsgate. "I got 700 baskets at Ramsgate. Today I am going to the other side by Pennington Bay to see if there is fish there‚" he said.

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

And each year holidaymakers flock to KwaZulu-Natal to catch a glimpse of the spectacle‚ which includes sharks‚ birds and dolphins in a feeding frenzy‚ preying on the sardines.