After extremely slim pickings over the last two years the Kwazulu-Natal Sharks Board is hopeful that there will be a marked improvement in sardine catches along the Durban coast, the press reports this week.

Good catches have been reported near Umgababa which will increase the likelihood of more shoals off Durban soon.

An aerial monitoring flight by the Sharks Board showed many small pockets of sardines and  the board also reported that five nets of about 80 crates of sardines had been successfully caught by the seine netters.

“After two years of no sardine runs, it looks very promising that we will have a better run this year.”

Members of the Hout Bay Residents Association remain, understandably,  up in arms at the City’s application to discharge effluent into the Atlantic Ocean.

Since 2009 it has been mandatory for coastal municipalities to apply for a Coastal Waters Discharge Permit.  The City is in the process of finalising its application for sea outfalls at Hout Bay, Camps Bay and Green Point.

In a letter to the City, Len Swimmer, Chairman of the Hout Bay  Residents Association said that the association takes the situation in Hout Bay very seriously.

“What we need is a proper sewage treatment plant with digesters that are capable of biodegrading the sewage.”