Sardines make a grand arrival on the KZN South Coast
As July begins, fishermen remain hopeful that conditions will hold and the Sardine Run will deliver more action.
The Sardine Run has kept seine netters guessing along the South Coast for the past two weeks, but signs are looking promising into July.
For eager seine netters, sardine season is a game of cat and mouse – or on some days, a frustrating round of hide and seek. Until recently, most netting activity has been concentrated on the northern stretches of the coast, with successful hauls reported at Mtwalume, Umkomaas, Scottburgh, Umgababa, Winkelspruit and Warner Beach.
However, the game changed this week for fishermen further south when large shoals arrived. Seine netters were kept busy on Monday, hauling nets at Mbango and Sea Park, and again on Tuesday when nets were pulled off Ramsgate.
Favourable weather and good sea conditions have given netters an advantage, with some crews landing between 80 and 200 crates per haul, depending on the size of the shoal.
The spectacle of the run, along with aloes blooming along the coastline, continues to draw visitors and locals to the beaches, in the hopes of witnessing the silver shoals push closer inshore.
As July begins, fishermen remain hopeful that conditions will hold and the Sardine Run will deliver more action and fresh catches further down the coast in the coming days.
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