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South Africa's fisheries department said it has not yet determined the full impact of mass sardine (pilchard) die-offs linked to pilchard herpesvirus, which have been observed since late July along a 2,600-km coastline from Namibia to South Africa's Eastern Cape. Deaths began easing in September, and the department said current evidence does not show a stock-wide reduction comparable to past Australian events.
A precautionary catch limit allowed rights holders to harvest no more than 33% of their remaining season quota between 3 and 30 October.
Sardine catch restrictions and possible stock losses reduce raw material available for fishmeal and fish oil production in southern Africa, which may support fishmeal prices. The effect is likely limited while the department says the stock impact is not yet clear.
seafoodsource.comNov 3, 2026Not enough comparable past events yet for a historical read.
Moves of each commodity's benchmark from the last close before the event. Historical reads pool past events of the same kind; they describe what happened, not what will. Not investment advice.
