The Sardine Run season for 2023 has started positively, with a number of reports of large shoals just south of Port St Johns during the past week, as well as netting on the middle to lower South Coast from around June 10.
“These sardines are probably part of an initial pilot shoal that comes up the coast at the start of the season and are hopefully a sign of more things to come. The Sardine Run is an incredible phenomenon that takes place every year as sardines follow a cold tongue of coastal water inshore up the coast from the Eastern Cape into KZN,” said Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI) scientist Dr Ryan Daly.
South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR) reported that sardines prefer a temperature of about 19 degrees and take their gap along the coast to ‘migrate’ northwards but sometimes get stuck as a patch of warm water pushes inshore early in the season.
The sardines are typically pursued by all kinds of predators including common dolphins, Bryde’s whales and gannets in the Eastern Cape and typically, sharks such as dusky, blacktip, spinner and bronze whaler sharks, when they get to KZN.
As the sardines form tight schools as a response to predation, it provides the opportunity for all these predators to feed on these fish that are rich in fat and important food source at this time of year.
Such shoals of sardines are pushed right inshore in KZN and can be spotted from the beach giving netters a chance to make their catch. The best conditions to see this phenomenon in are typically days when the sea is calm with smaller swell and good water visibility.
It is hoped that this season continues to be productive, and more sardines make their way up the coast to KZN.
(Source: SAAMBR)
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