sardine

sardine, any of certain food fishes of the herring family, Clupeidae, especially members of the genera Sardina, Sardinops, and Sardinella; the name sardine can also refer to the common herring (Clupea harengus) and to other small herrings or herringlike fishes when canned in oil. The European sardine (Sardina, or Clupea pilchardus)—known as pilchard in Britain—occurs in the Mediterranean Sea and off the Atlantic coasts of Spain, Portugal, France, and Britain. Clupea harengus is found throughout the North Atlantic, including coastal North America. The five recognized species of the genus Sardinops are so similar that they are sometimes classified as the single species S. sagax. The five species are found in different areas of the Pacific and Indian oceans and are fished off of western North and South America, Japan, Australia, and South Africa.

Sardines are small, silvery, elongated fishes with a single short dorsal fin, no lateral line, and no scales on the head. They range in length from about 15 to 30 cm (6 to 12 inches) and live in dense schools, migrating along the coast and feeding on plankton, of which they consume vast quantities. They spawn mainly in spring, with the eggs and, a few days later, the larvae drifting passively until they metamorphose into free-swimming fish.

Sardines of any species are commercially fished for a variety of uses: for bait; for fresh fish markets; for drying, salting, or smoking; and for reduction into fish meal or oil. The most important catching apparatus is an encircling net, particularly the variety known as the purse seine. Many other modifications of encircling nets are used, including traps or weirs, the latter being 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 rise to the surface to feed on plankton. After catching, the fish are submerged in brine while they are transported to shore. Sardines are canned in many different ways. At the cannery the fish are washed, their heads are removed, and the fish are cooked, either by deep-frying or by steam-cooking, after which they are dried. In Spain, Portugal, and many other countries the fish are then packed in either olive or soybean oil, while in Scandinavian countries they may alternatively be smoked. They may also be packed in a tomato or mustard sauce.

The chief use of sardines is for human consumption, but fish meal made from sardines is used as animal feed, while sardine oil has many uses, including the manufacture of paint, varnish, linoleum, and, in Europe, margarine. European sardines, young herring, and Sardinops are those most often canned.