E Coli threat to sardines

THE safety of consuming sardines during this year’s run has sparked debate among buyers and sellers in light of polluted beaches and the level of Escherichia Coli (E Coli) in the sea.

The small fish which make their annual appearance during winter are a delicacy for many, and witnessing their arrival is a tourism experience. However, caution will have to be displayed this season because of the contaminated ocean.

Msawakhe Mayisela, ethekwini municipality spokesperson, confirmed the municipality’s beaches were closed for any activity until further notice due to the high levels of E Coli, which was compounded by the floods experienced in the province recently.

Mayisela did not provide the readings for the latest E Coli test, or the most recent date of its undertaking.

The shoals have made their way to the province, but due to the murky waters, in some instances, have gone undetected.

Greg Thompson of the Kwazulunatal Sharks Board, said the movement of the fish was difficult to predict and it could not be guaranteed that they’d come up to the Durban beachfront.

“It takes a change of water temperature, current or an increase in predator pressure to change their routes and encourage them to move into certain areas. This can all happen pretty quickly,” he said.

Thompson said that the first pockets of sardines started filtering through on June 16 into Kwazulu-natal at Port Edward, and the first netting started a day later at Margate Main Beach, with four successful nets of sardines.

There has since been approximately 10 successful nets and numerous misses at Saint Mike’s, Hibberdene, Pennington, Scottburgh, Winklespruit, Warner Beach, Amanzimtoti, with the last noted netting was at Isipingo, on Tuesday.

“The KZN Sharks Board conducted an aerial sardine survey to Brazen Head on June 21 but the water visibility was poor once again, this time right into the Eastern Cape waters as well. It seems like every time we get easterly conditions or big swells, the mud and debris is being churned off the seabed to the surface.”

He said this was having a negative effect on the sardine season as the fish were moving unnoticed under the cover of poor visibility.

Thompson added that during the flight, small pockets of sardines were spotted in the surf zone, in areas where the visibility had improved slightly.

Professor Hafizah Chenia, microbiologist from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Kwazulu-natal said E Coli can be defined as a microscopic bacterium which was commonly incorrectly referred to as a germ.

She said that it normally lived in the intestines of humans, animals and fish and it was traditionally recognised as an indicator of faecal contamination of water and fish.

Chenia added that E Coli is not the usual bacteria associated with fish disease but could cause disease as opportunistic pathogens.

“In fish, they are typically associated with fish spoilage. So after fish are caught, if contaminated by handling or washing with contaminated water, it can lead to faster fish spoilage, and quality of fish product declines,” she said.

Chenia said that most strains are usually harmless, however, eating contaminated foods or consuming contaminated water was the most common way of getting an infection.

In light of the sardine run and the detected at the Durban beaches, Chenia said that if water or fish caught in these waters were ingested, there was a higher risk of abdominal pain, gastroenteritis, diarrhoea, bloody stools.

“Raw and undercooked fish consumption may result in an infection. If properly cooked, the hazards of food infection are practically null. Raw shellfish from these contaminated waters would be problematic. It is better to err on the side of caution though,” she said.