Dead fish could attract predators, South Africa

The recent discovery of scores of dead fish in the vicinity of Durban’s uShaka/South Beach has raised concern that careless dumping of undersize fish and by-catches might attract sharks to nearby bathing beaches.

Spear fishermen Carl Stow and Selwyn Rautenbach found dead, undersized shad lying on the sea bed near the backline last week.

How the fish died remained a mystery, but fish researchers speculated that these might have been discarded by seine netters or ski-boat fishermen.

Durban spear fisherman Rory O’Connor said he was concerned that the presence of dead fish or fish blood so close to the shore could attract sharks and predator species to nearby bathing beaches.

He was also concerned that the presence of large shoals of fish struggling to escape from seine nets could also lure sharks. Read More