The livelihoods of hundreds of KwaZulu-Natal fishermen in South Africa are at stake.
It follows the discovery of large amounts of dead fish on Isipingo beach.
At this stage, the cause of death is not yet clear but it’s suspected it could be a sewage leak.
Small-scale fishermen are concerned the pollutants could spread and have an even greater impact.
“You will find that out poor fisher folks, most of them unemployed, living below the poverty line, they’re going to get to the beach but unable to catch food and feed their families,” said John Peter.
Peter says a huge number of marine life could die if the contaminated water runs off into the ocean.
“The impact of this devastation is that the contaminated water from here will eventually get into the ocean… the impact of this, we will have almost a million different marine living species that’s going to be affected and they will also be dead.”