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Durban’s Sardine Run is a lesson in Entrepreneurship

by Kim Barty on 23/08/10 at 8:00 am
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Durban’s Sardine Run is called ‘the greatest shoal on earth’.  One journalist calls it ‘total madness’, I thought it was a lesson in entrepreneurship.

This year’s run was apparently one of the best in years, with billions and billions of sardines in shoals about 7km long, 1.5km wide and 30m deep, being driven to the surface and ashore by cold currents further south. According to one beach bystander, a bakkie load of sardines can collect a price tag of up to R30 000.

Entrepreneurship ran on many levels: the commercial fisherman getting maximum catch for maximum dollar; local Indian traders trying to pick up the silvery fish at a bargain price to sell on; Indian matriarchs wanting to get their hands on the catch; then there were those who just wanted a free meal.

Durban’s beachfront has been cleaned up since I was last there, with the new Fan Walk running the length of the beach from the entrance of the harbor to the new stadium. The Lonely Planet recently voted Durban one of the 10 top family beach holiday cities in the world. A clean and safe environment meant many people on the beach for the frenzy of the Sardine Run.  4 x 4’s churning the white sand, wrenches crunching as they hauled up the catch, boat owners shouting instructions in funigalo, interested buyers haggling to bring the price down and children shrieking with delight as each wave broke with the incoming tide.

According to Wikipedia’s definition of entrepreneurship – innovation, finance and business acumen – the stage is set for entrepreneurship: when the commercial fishermen bring their catch to shore, they whip the nets over and hook them onto the trucks, providing a ‘cage’ to keep beachside scavengers at bay; boat owners bark orders, fishermen, with muscles rippling, frantically transfer the catch into crates ready to transport to the nearest cold storage for distribution; hawkers try to lower the ‘R20 for a dozen’ price.

This temporary fencing does little to abate the frenzy on the beach with onlookers scratching through the nets, grabbing at stragglers.  People seem to lose their manners and believe it’s a free for all. One young boy nonchalantly stood next to a loaded truck and helped himself to as many fish as he could carry, before being spotted. Women in black burkas, tossed modesty aside and hoisted their skirts, targeting stray sardines.  Local cleaners from the nearby government hospital, side stepped hygiene, pockets bulging with their prizes.

Entrepreneurship extends off the beach, there is a Sardine Run website, a Sardine Run festival, and one company offers Diving with the Sardines. This is not for the faint hearted as the sardine shoals are followed by sharks, whales, dolphins and gannets.

Not only do you need innovation and business acumen, but entrepreneurship is hard work.  The Sardine Run is short lived and these fishermen worked for days unceasingly, since their raw commodity won’t be back for another year.

Kim's the founding partner of Trojan Horse, a company that creatively accesses people, places and spaces and is the holding company for MyCube4Change, a change and transformation tool. View more articles by Kim Barty.

Tags: Entrepeneurship, entrepreneur

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