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Sardine and pilchard are
common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...
s for various species of small,
oily An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...
forage fish Forage fish, also called prey fish or bait fish, are small pelagic fish that feed on planktons (i.e. planktivores) and other small aquatic organisms (e.g. krill). They are in turn preyed upon by various predators including larger fish, seabirds ...
in the
herring Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...
suborder
Clupeoidei Clupeoidei is a suborder of marine and freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Clupeiformes, an order which includes the herrings, anchovies and shads. Classification The Clupeoidei has the following families classified within it: * ...
. The term "sardine" was first used in
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
during the early 15th century; a somewhat dubious etymology says it comes from the
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
island of
Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...
, around which sardines were once supposedly abundant. The terms "sardine" and "pilchard" are not precise, and what is meant depends on the region. The
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
's
Sea Fish Industry Authority Seafish, formerly the Sea Fish Industry Authority, is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Established in 1981, and charged with working with the UK seafood ...
, for example, classifies sardines as young pilchards. One criterion suggests fish shorter in length than are sardines, and larger fish are pilchards. The
FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...
/
WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...
Codex standard for
canned sardines Sardines (also known as pilchards) are a nutrient-rich, small, oily fish widely consumed by humans and as forage fish by larger fish species, seabirds and marine mammals. Sardines are a source of omega-3 fatty acids. Sardines can be canned, pickl ...
cites 21 species that may be classed as sardines.
FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.
, a database of information about fish, calls at least six species pilchards, over a dozen just sardines, and many more with the two basic names qualified by various adjectives.


Etymology

The word ''sardine'' first appeared in English in the 15th century, a
loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...
from French , derived from
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, from
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
(''sardínē'') or (''sardĩnos''), possibly from the Greek (''Sardō'') '
Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...
'.
Athenaios Athenaeus of Naucratis (, or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; ) was an ancient Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD. The ''Suda'' says on ...
quotes a fragmentary passage from
Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
mentioning the fish (''sardĩnos''), referring to the sardine or pilchard. However, Sardinia is over 1000 km from Athens, so it seems "hardly probable that the Greeks would have obtained fish from so far as Sardinia at a time relatively so early as that of Aristotle." Although the Myceneans traded with the Sardinians during the latter Bronze Age. The flesh of some sardines or pilchards is a reddish-brown colour similar to some varieties of red
sardonyx Onyx is a typically black-and-white banded variety of agate, a silicate mineral. The bands can also be monochromatic with alternating light and dark bands. ''Sardonyx'' is a variety with red to brown bands alternated with black or white bands. T ...
or sardine stone; this word derives from (''sardĩon'') with a root meaning 'red' and possibly cognate with
Sardis Sardis ( ) or Sardes ( ; Lydian language, Lydian: , romanized: ; ; ) was an ancient city best known as the capital of the Lydian Empire. After the fall of the Lydian Empire, it became the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Lydia (satrapy) ...
, the capital of ancient
Lydia Lydia (; ) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis. At some point before 800 BC, ...
(now western
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
) where it was obtained. However, the name may refer to the reddish-pink colour of the gemstone
sard Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a brownish-red mineral commonly used as a semiprecious stone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker; the difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often used int ...
(or carnelian) known to the ancients. The phrase "packed like sardines" (in a
tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...
) is recorded from 1911. The phrase "packed up like sardines" appears in ''The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction'' from 1841, and is a translation of "encaissés comme des sardines", which appears in from 1829. Other early appearances of the idiom are "packed together ... like sardines in a tin-box" (1845), and "packed ... like sardines in a can" (1854).


Genera

Sardines occur in several genera. *Genus ''
Dussumieria ''Dussumieria'' is the genus of rainbow sardines, a group within the round herring family Dussumieriidae. They are found in Indo-Pacific. Species The following is a list of currently accepted living ''Dussumieria'' species: * '' Dussumieria a ...
'' **
Rainbow sardine The rainbow sardine (''Dussumieria acuta''), also known as common sprat, dwarf round herring, rainbow herring, and sharpnosed sprat, is a bony fish important to aquaculture and commercial fisheries. Description The color of the rainbow sardine i ...
(''Dussumieria acuta'') **
Slender rainbow sardine The slender rainbow sardine (''Dussumieria elopsoides'') is a small, subtropical, salt water fish of the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea which was first described by Bleeker in 1849. ''Dussumieria hasselti'' and ''Dussumieria productissima ...
(''Dussumieria elopsoides'') *Genus ''
Escualosa ''Escualosa'' is a genus of fishes in the herring family, Dorosomatidae. The genus currently contains two described species. They are found in Indo-Pacific. Species * '' Escualosa elongata'' Wongratana, 1983 (Slender white sardine) * '' Escu ...
'' **
Slender white sardine The slender white sardine (''Escualosa elongata'') is a species of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Dorosomatidae in the genus ''Escualosa''.
(''Escualosa elongata'') ** White sardine (''Escualosa thoracata'') *Genus '' Sardina'' **
European pilchard The European pilchard (''Sardina pilchardus'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the monotypic genus ''Sardina''. The young of the species are among the many fish that are sometimes called sardines. This common species is found in the northeast ...
(true sardine) (''Sardina pilchardus'') *Genus ''
Sardinella ''Sardinella'' is a genus of fish in the family Dorosomatidae found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are abundant in warmer waters of the tropical and subtropical oceans. Adults are generally coastal, schooling, marine fish but ...
'' ** Goldstripe sardinella (''Sardinella gibbosa'') ** Indian oil sardine (''Sardinella longiceps'') **
Round sardinella The round sardinella (''Sardinella aurita'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Sardinella'' found in both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. ''S. aurita'' went through a large boom in catch population around 1990 ...
(''Sardinella aurita'') ** Freshwater sardine (''Sardinella tawilis'') ** Marquesan sardinella (''Sardinella marquesensis'') *Genus ''
Sardinops ''Sardinops'' is a monotypic genus of sardines of the family Alosidae. The only member of the genus is ''Sardinops sagax''. It is found in the Indo-Pacific and East Pacific oceans. Its length is up to . It has numerous common or vernacular names, ...
'' **
South American pilchard ''Sardinops'' is a monotypic genus of sardines of the Family (biology), family Alosidae. The only member of the genus is ''Sardinops sagax''. It is found in the Indo-Pacific and East Pacific oceans. Its length is up to . It has numerous common or ...
(''Sardinops sagax'') Although they are not true sardines,
sprat Sprat is the common name applied to a group of forage fish belonging to the genus ''Sprattus'' in the Family (biology), family Clupeidae. The term also is applied to a number of other small sprat-like forage fish (''Clupeoides'', ''Clupeonella ...
s are sometimes marketed as sardines. For example, the
European sprat The European sprat (''Sprattus sprattus''), also known as brisling, brisling sardine, bristling, garvie, garvock, Russian sardine, russlet, skipper or whitebait, is a species of small marine fish in the herring family Clupeidae. Found in Europe ...
, ''Sprattus sprattus'', is sometimes marketed as the 'brisling sardine'.


Species

File:Sardina pilchardus Gervais.jpg, The
European pilchard The European pilchard (''Sardina pilchardus'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the monotypic genus ''Sardina''. The young of the species are among the many fish that are sometimes called sardines. This common species is found in the northeast ...
, ''Sardina pilchardus'' File:Sardinops sagax.jpg, In the 1980s the
South American pilchard ''Sardinops'' is a monotypic genus of sardines of the Family (biology), family Alosidae. The only member of the genus is ''Sardinops sagax''. It is found in the Indo-Pacific and East Pacific oceans. Its length is up to . It has numerous common or ...
, ''Sardinops sagax'', was the most intensively fished species of sardine. Some major
stocks Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...
declined precipitously in the 1990s (see chart below). File:Sardinops sagax caerulea.png, The
Pacific sardine ''Sardinops'' is a monotypic genus of sardines of the family Alosidae. The only member of the genus is ''Sardinops sagax''. It is found in the Indo-Pacific and East Pacific oceans. Its length is up to . It has numerous common or vernacular names, ...
, ''Sardinops sagax caerulea''


Feeding

Sardines feed almost exclusively on
zooplankton Zooplankton are the heterotrophic component of the planktonic community (the " zoo-" prefix comes from ), having to consume other organisms to thrive. Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents. Consequent ...
and congregate wherever this is abundant.


Fisheries

Typically, sardines are caught with encircling nets, particularly
purse seine Seine fishing (or seine-haul fishing; ) is a method of fishing that employs a surrounding net, called a seine, that hangs vertically in the water with its bottom edge held down by weights and its top edge buoyed by floats. Seine nets can be de ...
s. Many modifications of encircling nets are used, including traps or
fishing weir A fishing weir, fish weir, fishgarth or kiddle is an obstruction placed in tidal waters, or wholly or partially across a river, to direct the passage of, or trap fish. A weir may be used to trap marine fish in the intertidal zone as the tide rec ...
s. The latter are stationary enclosures composed of stakes into which schools of sardines are diverted as they swim along the coast. The fish are caught mainly at night, when they approach the surface to feed on
plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...
. After harvesting, the fish are submerged in
brine Brine (or briny water) is a high-concentration solution of salt (typically sodium chloride or calcium chloride) in water. In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawat ...
while they are transported to shore. Sardines are commercially fished for a variety of uses: for bait; for immediate consumption; for drying, salting, or smoking; and for reduction into
fish meal Fish meal (sometimes spelled fishmeal) is a commercial product made from whole wild-caught fish, bycatch, and fish by-products to feed farm animals, such as pigs, poultry, and farmed fish.R. D. Miles and F. A. Chapman.FA122: The Benefits of Fish ...
or oil. The chief use of sardines is for human consumption, but fish meal is used as animal feed, while sardine oil has many uses, including the manufacture of
paint Paint is a material or mixture that, when applied to a solid material and allowed to dry, adds a film-like layer. As art, this is used to create an image or images known as a painting. Paint can be made in many colors and types. Most paints are ...
,
varnish Varnish is a clear Transparency (optics), transparent hard protective coating or film. It is not to be confused with wood stain. It usually has a yellowish shade due to the manufacturing process and materials used, but it may also be pigmente ...
, and
linoleum Linoleum is a floor covering made from materials such as solidified linseed oil (linoxyn), Pine Resin, pine resin, ground Cork (material), cork dust, sawdust, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a Hessian fabric, hes ...
.


Food and nutrition

Sardines are commonly consumed by humans as a source of
protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...
,
omega-3 fatty acid Omega−3 fatty acids, also called omega−3 oils, ω−3 fatty acids or ''n''−3 fatty acids, are polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) characterized by the presence of a double bond three atoms away from the terminal methyl group in their ...
s, and
micronutrient Micronutrients are essential chemicals required by organisms in small quantities to perform various biogeochemical processes and regulate physiological functions of cells and organs. By enabling these processes, micronutrients support the heal ...
s. Sardines may be grilled, pickled, smoked, or preserved in cans. Canned sardines are 67% water, 21% protein, 10%
fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specif ...
, and contain negligible
carbohydrate A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...
s (table). In a reference amount of , canned sardines supply 185
calorie The calorie is a unit of energy that originated from the caloric theory of heat. The large calorie, food calorie, dietary calorie, kilocalorie, or kilogram calorie is defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one liter o ...
s of
food energy Food energy is chemical energy that animals and humans derive from food to sustain their metabolism and muscular activity. Most animals derive most of their energy from aerobic respiration, namely combining the carbohydrates, fats, and protein ...
and are a rich source (20% or more of the
Daily Value In the U.S. and Canada, the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) is used in nutrition labeling on food and dietary supplement products to indicate the daily intake level of a nutrient that is considered to be sufficient to meet the requirements of 97 ...
, DV) of
vitamin B12 Vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin involved in metabolism. One of eight B vitamins, it serves as a vital cofactor (biochemistry), cofactor in DNA synthesis and both fatty acid metabolism, fatty acid and amino a ...
(375% DV),
phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...
(29% DV), and
niacin Nicotinic acid, or niacin, is an organic compound and a vitamer of vitamin B3, an essential human nutrient. It is produced by plants and animals from the amino acid tryptophan. Nicotinic acid is also a prescription medication. Amounts f ...
(26% DV) (table). Sardines are a moderate source (10–19% DV) of the
B vitamins B vitamins are a class of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in Cell (biology), cell metabolism and synthesis of red blood cells. They are a chemically diverse class of compounds. Dietary supplements containing all eight are referr ...
,
riboflavin Riboflavin, also known as vitamin B2, is a vitamin found in food and sold as a dietary supplement. It is essential to the formation of two major coenzymes, flavin mononucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide. These coenzymes are involved in ...
and
pantothenic acid Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) is a B vitamin and an essential nutrient. All animals need pantothenic acid in order to synthesize coenzyme A (CoA), which is essential for cellular energy production and for the synthesis and degradation of prote ...
, and several
dietary minerals In the context of nutrition, a mineral is a chemical element. Some "minerals" are essential for life, but most are not. ''Minerals'' are one of the four groups of essential nutrients; the others are vitamins, essential fatty acids, and essen ...
, including
calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...
and
sodium Sodium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Na (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 element, group 1 of the peri ...
(18% DV each) (table). A 100 g serving of canned sardines supplies about 7 g combined of
monounsaturated In biochemistry and nutrition, a monounsaturated fat is a fat that contains a monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), a subclass of fatty acid characterized by having a double bond in the fatty acid chain with all of the remaining carbon atoms being s ...
and
polyunsaturated fatty acids In biochemistry and nutrition, a polyunsaturated fat is a fat that contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid (abbreviated PUFA), which is a subclass of fatty acid characterized by a backbone with two or more carbon–carbon double bonds. Some polyunsa ...
(USDA source in table). Because they are low in the food chain, sardines are low in contaminants, such as mercury, relative to other fish commonly eaten by humans, and have a relatively low impact in production of
greenhouse gas Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...
es.


History


History of sardine fishing in the UK

Pilchard fishing and processing became a thriving industry in
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
from around 1750 to around 1880, after which it went into decline. Catches varied from year to year, and in 1871, the catch was 47,000
hogsheads A hogshead (abbreviated "hhd", plural "hhds") is a large cask of liquid (or, less often, of a food commercial product) for manufacturing and sale. It refers to a specified volume, measured in either imperial or US customary measures, primarily ...
, while in 1877, only 9,477 hogsheads. A hogshead contained 2,300 to 4,000 pilchards, and when filled with pressed pilchards, weighed 476 lbs. The pilchards were mostly exported to
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
countries such as
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, where they are known as ''fermades''. The chief market for the oil was
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
, where it was used on machinery. Since 1997, sardines from Cornwall have been sold as 'Cornish sardines', and since March 2010, under EU law, Cornish sardines have
Protected Geographical Status Three European Union schemes of geographical indications and traditional specialties, known as protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), and traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG), promote and protect na ...
. The industry has featured in numerous works of art, particularly by
Stanhope Forbes Stanhope Alexander Forbes (18 November 1857 – 2 March 1947) was an Irish artist and a founding member of the influential Newlyn school of painters. He was often called 'the father of the Newlyn School'.Newlyn School The Newlyn School was an art colony of artists based in or near Newlyn, a fishing village adjacent to Penzance, on the south coast of Cornwall, from the 1880s until the early twentieth century. The establishment of the Newlyn School was remini ...
artists. The traditional "Toast to Pilchards" refers to the lucrative export of the fish to Catholic Europe: :Here's health to the Pope, may he live to repent :And add just six months to the term of his
Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...
:And tell all his vassals from Rome to the
Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...
, :There's nothing like pilchards for saving their souls!


History of sardine fishing in the United States

In the United States, the sardine
canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although under ...
industry peaked in the 1950s. Since then, the industry has been on the decline. The canneries in
Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by about 75 miles (120 km), accessible via California S ...
, in what was known as
Cannery Row Cannery Row is a historic waterfront street in Monterey, California, once home to a thriving sardine canning industry. Originally named Ocean View Avenue, it was nicknamed 'Cannery Row' as early as 1918 and officially renamed in 1958. The area ...
in
Monterey County, California Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county (United States), county located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 439,035. The count ...
(where
John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...
's novel of the same name was set), failed in the mid-1950s. The last large sardine cannery in the United States, the Stinson Seafood plant in
Prospect Harbor Prospect Harbor is a bay in Gouldsboro, Maine. It is separated from Gouldsboro Bay to the northeast by Cranberry Point and from Winter Harbor to the west by the Schoodic Peninsula The Schoodic Peninsula is a peninsula in Down East Maine. I ...
,
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
, closed its doors on 15 April 2010 after 135 years in operation. In April 2015 the
Pacific Fishery Management Council The eight U.S. regional fishery management councils are the primary forums for developing conservation and management measures for U.S. marine fisheries. The regional councils recommend management measures for fisheries in the Exclusive Economic ...
voted to direct
NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...
Fisheries Service to halt the current commercial season in
Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
,
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
and
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, because of a dramatic collapse in Pacific sardine stocks. The ban affected about 100 fishing boats with sardine permits, although far fewer were actively fishing at the time. The season normally would end 30 June. The ban was expected to last for more than a year, and was still in place .


In popular culture

The manner in which sardines can be packed in a can has led to the popular English language saying "packed like sardines", which is used metaphorically to describe situations where people or objects are crowded closely together. "Sardines" is also the name of a
children's game This is a list of games that are played by children. Traditional children's games do not include commercial products such as board games but do include games which require props such as hopscotch or marbles (toys go in List of toys unless the t ...
, where one person hides and each successive person who finds the hidden one packs into the same space until only one is left out, who becomes the next one to hide. Among the residents of the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
city of
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
, the local tendency to exaggerate is linked to a folk tale about a sardine that supposedly blocked the city's port in the 18th century. It was actually blocked by a ship called the '' Sartine''.


Gallery

File:Sardines.ogv, Sardines use
body-caudal fin locomotion Fish locomotion is the various types of animal locomotion used by fish, principally by swimming. This is achieved in different groups of fish by a variety of mechanisms of propulsion, most often by wave-like lateral flexions of the fish's body a ...
to swim, and
streamline Streamline may refer to: Business * Streamline Air, American regional airline * Adobe Streamline, a discontinued line tracing program made by Adobe Systems * Streamline Cars, the company responsible for making the Burney car Engineering ...
their bodies by holding their other
fins A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foil (fluid mechanics), foils that produce lift (force), lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while travelin ...
flat against the body File:Le senneur "Oued Souss" (1).JPG, French sardine
seiner A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to fishing, catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial ...
File:Sardine canner, Maine State Museum at Augusta IMG 1987.JPG, Exhibit of a woman canning sardines at the
Maine State Museum The Maine State Museum is the official Maine government's museum and is located at 230 State Street, adjacent to the Maine State House, in Augusta, Maine, Augusta. Its collections focus on the state's pre-history, history, and natural science. ...
in Augusta


See also

*''
Chasse-marée In English, a chasse-marée is a specific, archaic type of decked commercial sailing vessel. In French, ''un chasse-marée'' was 'a wholesale fishmonger', originally on the English Channel, Channel coast of France and later, on the Atlantic coa ...
'' *
Sardine run The KwaZulu-Natal sardine run of southern Africa occurs from May through July when billions of sardines – or more specifically the Southern African pilchard ''Sardinops sagax'' – spawn in the cool waters of the Agulhas Bank and move northwar ...


References


Further reading

*


External links


Sardines
Seafood Watch __NOTOC__ Seafood Watch is a sustainable seafood advisory list, and has influenced similar programs around the world. It is best known for developing science-based seafood recommendations that consumers, chefs, and business professionals use t ...
,
Monterey Bay Aquarium Monterey Bay Aquarium is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit public aquarium in Monterey, California. Known for its regional focus on the marine habitats of Monterey Bay, it was the first to exhibit a living kelp forest when it opened in Octob ...
{{Authority control Clupeidae Commercial fish Oily fish Fish of Hawaii Economy of Cornwall Fish common names Articles containing video clips