The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) says it is investigating widespread reports of sardines washing up along the Gqeberha coastline in the Eastern Cape.

Isolated sightings of mass sardine mortality have also been reported this week along Cape Town’s coastline, including at Bakoven, as well as in Tsitsikamma in the Eastern Cape.

This follows after thousands of sardines washed-up on the Cape’s West Coast two weeks ago, prompting officials to conduct testing. Preliminary reports have confirmed the presence of pilchard herpesvirus (PHV) in the fish.

#PODCAST Pilchard herpesvirus detected in West Coast sardines following mass die-off #sabcnews https://t.co/h3Ho7yaibb #sabckzn @salpatel786

— SABC News Radio (@SABCNews_Radio) August 18, 2026

The department’s spokesperson Zolile Nqayi says that incident could likely be linked to the latest incident in Gqeberha, but testing is underway to confirm the suspicion.

The department says pilchard herpesvirus pose no known risk to human health, but has cautioned the public to abstain from eating washed-up sardines.

Public Notice

Sardines have washed ashore along sections of the beachfront.

Members of the public are advised not to collect, handle or consume the sardines, and not to feed them to animals.https://t.co/Wh53rI7qph pic.twitter.com/7OuvfhwESw

— Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (@NMandelaBaymuni) August 27, 2026

RELATED VIDEO | Thousands of sardines dead, what’s happening beneath the surface?

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