State fisheries director Noraishah Hashim said many residents and visitors took the opportunity to collect the anchovies between 11am and 1pm yesterday. She said investigations showed that such incidents were rare and only happened at Pasir Bogak beach.

The anchovies were found beaching themselves at 7.30pm on Saturday while on Friday a small quantity of silver-type round herring fries was also found stranded on the beach.

“Fishermen in the area said large fish, especially the alu-alu fish (yellowtail barracuda) could be hunting the anchovies forcing them to jump onto the beach,” she said.

The bright lights in the area might have also lured the anchovies to the beach.

She said fishermen and vessel owners informed the department that their anchovy catch had increased several days before the phenomenon occurred.

Noraishah said the anchovy population could have increased because a conservation zone for fish breeding had been created through a rezoning of fishing areas on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia in 2016.