Cape town: While the investigation into widespread sardine mortality continues, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) has not received any further reports of dead or dying sardines since 3 September 2026.
According to South African Government News Agency, the department is actively probing the widespread sardine mortality reported along the South African coast and similar strandings in Namibia. The event began in the Western Cape in late July 2026, spreading along the southern Cape to Gqeberha by 27 August, and then further to East London and northern Wild Coast by 2 September. Similar incidents were noted at Langstrand in Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, and Henties Bay in Namibia.
The reported locations span approximately 2,600 km of coastline, but the mortality was not continuous across this distance. The linkage between the Namibian and South African events remains inconclusive pending laboratory comparisons. The DFFE has not received any more reports of sardine deaths since early September, and no strandings have been noted along the KwaZulu-Natal coast.
The department suggested that sardines typically move northwards in cooler nearshore waters during their annual run. However, warm inshore conditions along the KwaZulu-Natal coast may have hindered this movement, although this remains an oceanographic interpretation rather than a confirmed barrier. Monitoring is ongoing, and the event cannot yet be considered concluded.
Laboratory testing has identified pilchard herpesvirus (PHV) in affected sardines from the Western Cape and Gqeberha, suggesting a connection between the Eastern Cape mortality and the earlier PHV event. The consistent detection of high PHV levels in sardines supports it as the most likely primary cause. Investigations have not supported harmful algae or marine biotoxins as primary causes, though environmental conditions could be contributing stressors.
A small sample of sardines collected off the KwaZulu-Natal coast before any mortalities tested negative for PHV. However, this sample's limitations do not confirm PHV's absence from the wider population. The department continues to test other comparison samples. There's no evidence of when or how the virus arrived in South African waters, nor its origin.
During a meeting on 4 September 2026, the DFFE's Small Pelagic Scientific Working Group considered scientific information, including diagnostic results and observations. Preliminary mortality estimates remain uncertain, as they rely on assumptions about fish density and the continuity of affected coastal areas.
While the mortality's magnitude remains unclear, evidence does not suggest a significant enough population reduction to warrant a complete fishery closure. However, a temporary precautionary limitation on catches has been recommended by the SWG-PEL and implemented by the DFFE.
The department warns against circulating misleading images of unrelated global fish-mortality events, as they may distort the local incident's scale. An upcoming hydroacoustic survey will provide post-event sardine biomass and distribution estimates.
The DFFE collaborates with provincial and local authorities, Namibia, academic institutions, and the fishing industry on reporting, sampling, and monitoring. Namibian sardine samples are also being tested for PHV. The department emphasizes that PHV is not known to infect humans and advises against collecting or consuming dead or dying sardines, which could pose health risks or spread infection.