DEAR Editor,-
Many years ago I lived in a flat overlooking the Margate/Ramsgate seafront. I now live further down the coast and still have my eyes cast over the sea. I have followed the Greatest Shoal on Earth for 50 years and have experienced wading through fish, waist deep, on the beaches. Graders had to be brought in to remove those that were not taken – it was an absolute feast for all.
However over the last couple of years, on numerous occasions, especially during the dark of night I would spot very dark boats only with pilot lights showing, going slowly up the coast from Ramsgate to Margate only about 500m to a kilometre away. One could smell them on the wind.
Reporting this to the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and a couple of other people in the know, I was told to keep quiet and not mention it again.
This always bothered my peace of mind.
When the Greatest Shoal on Earth, produced by National Geographic, was first released my fear and of course my ‘conspiracy theories’ reared their ugly heads again and my first thought was ‘now the Chinese and or Japanese are going to climb in and obliterate the sardines’.
My thoughts were still fresh in my mind and lo and behold in 2012 the sardines did not appear. The reason – current and water temperature changes. But the stinking black ships still prowled the coastline.
In 2013 the sardines did not appear. The reason – current and water temperature changes plus huge storm surges. But the stinking black ships still prowled the coastline.
A couple of months ago I heard that a company in the Eastern Cape had been given the rights to fish the ‘red eye’ at the source as they come up from the southern waters to head up the east coast of Africa.
Do the fishermen on the fishing boats look at every sardine to see if they have red eyes? I think not.
Now we have local companies fishing sardine with trawlers in the south and foreign black ships fishing sardine all up the coast.
It is now 2014 and the sardines will not appear and we will be told the reason is global warming.
Now one also has to ask, with the disappearance of the sardines, where are the dolphins that used to come in shoals, hundreds upon hundreds of them chasing the sardines north and the game fish that followed the shoals, various shark species, garrick, etcetera and ask were they fished out along with the sardines? Or, without food, have they tragically died from hunger.
ERIKA THOMSON
