Virus kills sardines along 2,600 km of African coast, raising fears for endangered penguins
Scientists want commercial sardine fishing paused, but South Africa's task team has held off, as the industry warns a closure would cost 1.2 billion rand.
A virus has killed sardines along about 2,600 kilometers (1,600 miles) of southern African coastline since late July, prompting conservationists to call for a halt to commercial sardine fishing to protect the critically endangered African penguin.
Tests identified pilchard herpesvirus, which infects only sardines and poses no risk to people or animals that eat them. It likely arrived in imported frozen sardines used for canning or bait. A similar outbreak in Australia in 1995 killed up to 60% of affected populations.
African penguins feed only on sardines and anchovies. “There is a strong link between penguin survival and sardine biomass,” said Alistair McInnes of BirdLife South Africa, who noted that penguins begin molting in October, a vulnerable period that lasts until February.
A government task team decided against closing the fishery, saying the available evidence did not suggest a very large drop in the population. The Southern African Pelagic Fishing Industry Association said a closure would cost South Africa's economy more than 1.2 billion rand.
Janet Coetzee, a scientist with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, said a temporary restriction was meant to buy time and that fishing may not continue after Oct. 2. An annual survey of sardine stocks in October and November will guide next year's quotas.
This brief is based on reporting by Nick Dall, published Sept. 24, 2026, in The Guardian. Read the original: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/sep/24/mass-sardine-die-off-pits-survival-of-south-africas-penguins-against-fishers-livelihoods
This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by an editor before publication.
