Thousands of anchovies were pushed to the shore, causing a frenzy among locals in the Philippines.

Footage shows the tiny silver fish filling the shallow part of the beach as they were being hauled into a net by residents in Antique province on February 14.

The fish were collected by families in plastic bags and basins to bring home and cook.

Resident Camille Alcazar, 21, said her family alone was able to take home 50 large containers of the fish to share.

She said: ‘My mum called to me to bring buckets and plastic bags because there were many fish on the beach. We were so happy.'

Camille added it was fishing season in their province but they could not believe the volume of anchovies that was caught in their waters.

She said: ‘I believe it was a gift from God. It's a blessing for our village.'

Anchovies are small, schooling fish that occasionally end up stranded or beached due to many reasons, such as powerful storm surges or shifting tidal currents, predator evasion, or harmful algal blooms that lead to reduced oxygen, which can debilitate schools, forcing increasingly weak fish towards shorelines.