Welcome to The Sardine News

Posted on July 22, 2025July 22, 2025 by Sean Lange — Leave a comment

NSRI Marks World Drowning Prevention Day

World Drowning Prevention Day by the NSRI

NSRI Marks World Drowning Prevention Day

NSRI Marks World Drowning Prevention Day: Anyone can drown; no one should. Your story can save a life.
On Friday, 25 July 2025, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) will join communities across South Africa and around the world to observe World Drowning Prevention Day, a United Nations and World Health Organisation (WHO) initiative dedicated to awareness, remembrance, and action.
This year’s theme, “Your story can save a life,” is a powerful reminder that drowning prevention is not only about water safety and swimming lessons. It is also about stories. When shared, these stories can change behaviour, influence communities, and save lives.
Each year, drowning claims more than 236,000 lives globally and is one of the top 10 causes of death for children aged 5 to 14.

“This is not just a statistic; it’s a call to action,” says Mike Vonk, NSRI CEO. “World Drowning Prevention Day reminds us that while anyone can drown, no one should.”
With more than 3,000 kilometres of coastline, countless rivers, lakes, and dams, South Africa faces unique water safety challenges. The NSRI, having seen the tragedy of drowning far too often, expanded its mission from emergency response to proactive education and prevention.
Turning experience into prevention
Since 2006, the NSRI has been transforming lessons from real-life incidents into lifesaving education through initiatives such as:
• Water Safety Education: Reaching more than 5.5 million South Africans with vital skills, including bystander CPR.
• Survival Swimming: teaching children in under-resourced communities how to control their breathing, orient themselves in water, float and swim.
• The Pink Rescue Buoy Project: over 1,800 Pink Buoys have been deployed, directly saving at least 221 lives since its launch in 2017.
• The free NSRI SafeTRX App: helping small craft users log trips, track movements, and alert rescuers in an emergency.
In 2024 alone, the NSRI delivered 877,485 water safety lessons and taught 25,000 survival swimming lessons, empowering communities with knowledge that truly saves lives.
How you can help
This World Drowning Prevention Day, the NSRI urges all South Africans to share their stories, raise awareness, and practice safe behaviour around water.

Here’s how you can make a difference:
• Learn to swim – Equip yourself and your children with basic water survival skills.
• Supervise children – Drowning is silent. Always keep a close watch on children.
• Avoid alcohol near water – Stay alert and in control.
• Check conditions before you swim – Always assess water and weather conditions.
• Use proper safety gear – Lifejackets save lives.
What you can do on 25 July:
• Go Blue for Drowning Prevention – Wear blue on 25 July or host a blue-themed event.
• Share your story – Inspire others by telling how water safety has touched your life. Post on social media using #DrowningPrevention, #WorldDrowningPreventionDay, and tag @NSRI.
• Support community efforts – Volunteer, donate, or help spread the word.
Your story can save a life.

Media Queries
For interviews or further information, contact:
Andrew Ingram, NSRI Communications Manager
Email: andrewi@searescue.org.za | Tel: 082 990 5977
High-resolution photographs and media resources are available on NSRI’s Flickr page:
Survival Swimming: https://www.flickr.com/photos/searescue/albums/72177720327287819
Water Safety Education: https://www.flickr.com/photos/searescue/albums/72177720298054924/
World Drowning Prevention Day Graphic: https://www.flickr.com/photos/searescue/albums/72157719324524640/
Visit www.nsri.org.za for more information.

NSRI Emergency Number: 087 094 9774

Sardines and Sighting Maps

Follow the 2025 Sardine Run Map!

You can also download our app to your phone or device, accept notifications, and you will never miss a single sardine.

Last year we started to log more whale and dolphin sightings. And we even had a shipwreck! This year we have had two sailboat incidents already. MANY sardines sighted already this year! And even another UFO!

Here are the links to existing and past Sardine Sighting Maps…

2025 Sardine Map

2024 Sardine Map

2023 Sardine Map

2022 Sardine Map

2021 Sardine Map

Channels

Brucifire Surf Retorts – highly entertaining surf reporting

Master Watermen – news from way down deep

The Sardine News – neva miss a single sardine

FishBazaruto – 1000 pounds plus

MYDO Tackle Talk – highly technical sport fishing

Surf Launching Southern Africa – getting out there safely

Water Woes – complain about your municipality here

Websites

umzimkulu.co.za – self-catering right on the Umzimkulu River
umzimkuluadrenalin.co.za – will get you right out and onto the edge
thesardine.co.za – never miss a single sardine
masterwatermen.co.za – news from under water
fishbazaruto.com – dreams
brucifire.co.za – surf retorts

Posted on July 19, 2025July 19, 2025 by Sean Lange — Leave a comment

Shad Run vs Sardine Run

Shad Run vs Sardine Run

Shad Run vs. Sardine Run: The clear lack of shad in numbers this year and last raises questions about the health of our beloved shad community. Have we done it again? Cleaned them all out like we did in the 70s?

By Sean – Reporting from Mdumbi, Wild Coast

The 2025 sardine run has blown us all away with its scale and duration. Starting unusually early in May and extending into mid-July (and still on at the time of writing), so many shoals of sardines have passed through the Wild Coast and up along KwaZulu-Natal, invigorating local communities and ecosystems. Mdumbi continues to see active migration, while netting has remained consistent as far north as Amanzimtoti and Durban’s other southern beaches. Highly popular beaches for sardines each year.

From crazy bait balls offshore to gannets and dolphins arranging feeding frenzies, this marine spectacle has been vibrant and sustained. For many in the coastal belt, this run is the most abundant in recent memory — a powerful symbol of nature’s cycles when left relatively undisturbed.

Our sardine communities are in good health. And this is according to Garry Hook, who has been chasing and catching sardines his entire life. Garry and The Sardine News team have been working closely together recently and we have a sardine surprise coming your way soon!

The Sardine Run: Migration, Magnitude, Meaning

Sardines netted at Winklespruit 27 June 2024

The sardine run is not merely seasonal — it is ecological choreography. Sardinops sagax migrate from colder Cape waters into the nutrient-rich zones of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal coastline each year at almost exactly the same time. The run is kicked off by sardine interactions with the currents. Mainly the Agulhas and its counter c.urrent. Their movement catalyses marine activity across multiple trophic levels, supporting predators, fishers, and communities dependent on oceanic abundance.

This year’s arrival — observed as early as late May and intensifying in June — delivered big time. Everybody has had an absolute blast so far.

But its dangerous business – these nets, ropes, land cruisers – and people all around. Crew and crowd. Big strain is put on the equipment and accidents happen. This year has been no different with at least one sardine team operator landing up in hospital.

From Ezimvelo to DAFF: Another Questionable Shift in Coastal Oversight

Under the Zuma administration, a controversial change stripped Ezimvelo KZN Wildlife of its beach policing mandate, transferring responsibilities to DAFF (Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries). Ezimvelo, with its extensive field experience and local presence, had become a trusted fixture in coastal management.

DAFF’s replacement agents, by contrast, were ill-equipped. Numerous reports cite species misidentification — such as mistaking karanteen for shad — as well as erroneous arrests and enforcement targeting higher-income areas while neglecting subsistence-heavy zones. The reduction in trained personnel and inconsistent patrols left a vacuum in coastal protection.

This shift coincided with a noticeable uptick in illegal and unregulated fishing activities. In particular, shad (Pomatomus saltatrix), which are vulnerable during spawning aggregations and subject to catch limits, became increasingly depleted.

Shad Depletion Amidst Sardine Abundance

The shoal of angry dorado move in and harass the shad flat out

Despite the sardine run’s robust scale in 2025, shad populations have not seen a commensurate recovery this season. Instead, anglers have observed a long-term decline in legal-sized shad over the past several seasons. Undersized fish are frequently caught and retained, and spawning behaviour appears disrupted or diminished.

There is no conclusive scientific study linking sardine biomass directly to shad abundance. However, ecological interdependencies suggest that sardines — as both bait and nutrient source — play a supporting role in shad population health. The absence of proper enforcement, not sardine availability, appears to be the primary pain point here.

The Cost of Weak Regulation

The transition from Ezimvelo to DAFF represents a wider erosion in ecological governance. Effective coastal stewardship depends not only on seasonal abundance but on sustained regulation, education, and scientific support. When oversight fails, even bumper seasons can mask underlying declines in species resilience.

“Leave them shad alone” is not just a slogan — it’s a call for informed fishing, equitable enforcement, and policy corrections that restore ecological balance.

Ok, now we are talking everyone’s favourite fish – shad…

Looking Forward: Conservation Through Community

The Sardine News urges all stakeholders to treat this year’s sardine run not only as a huge privilege to be a part of, but as an opportunity for ecological reckoning. We must:

Reassess enforcement frameworks for coastal species protection.
Prioritize education campaigns for sustainable fishing.
Support community-led monitoring in underserved coastal regions.
Demand accountability in biodiversity regulation at government levels.

The fish are running — so must we. Toward protection, toward regeneration, and toward a coastal culture that understands its inheritance and its impact.