Global commercial capture of sardines in tonnes reported by theFAO 1950–2009[1]
Sardine andpilchard arecommon names for various species of small,oilyforage fish in theherring suborderClupeoidei.[2] The term "sardine" was first used inEnglish during the early 15th century; a somewhat dubious etymology says it comes from theItalian island ofSardinia, around which sardines were once supposedly abundant.[3][4][5]
The terms "sardine" and "pilchard" are not precise, and what is meant depends on the region. TheUnited Kingdom'sSea Fish Industry Authority, for example, classifies sardines as young pilchards.[6] One criterion suggests fish shorter in length than 15 cm (6 in) are sardines, and larger fish are pilchards.[7]
TheFAO/WHO Codex standard forcanned sardines cites 21 species that may be classed as sardines.[8]FishBase, 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.
The wordsardine first appeared in English in the 15th century, aloanword from Frenchsardine, derived fromLatinsardina, fromAncient Greekσαρδίνη (sardínē) orσαρδῖνος (sardĩnos),[9] possibly from the GreekΣαρδώ (Sardō) 'Sardinia'.Athenaios quotes a fragmentary passage fromAristotle mentioning the fishσαρδῖνος (sardĩnos), referring to the sardine or pilchard.[10] 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",[11] although theMyceneans traded with the Sardinians during the latter Bronze Age.[12]
The flesh of some sardines or pilchards is a reddish-brown colour similar to some varieties of redsardonyx or sardine stone; this word derives fromσαρδῖον (sardĩon) with a root meaning 'red' and possibly cognate withSardis, the capital of ancientLydia (now westernTurkey) where it was obtained. However, the name may refer to the reddish-pink colour of the gemstonesard (or carnelian) known to the ancients.[13][14]
The phrase "packed like sardines" (in atin) is recorded from 1845.[11] The phrase "packed up like sardines" appears inThe Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction from 1841,[15] and is a translation of "encaissés comme des sardines", which appears inLa Femme, le mari, et l'amant from 1829.[16] Other early appearances of the idiom are "packed together ... like sardines in a tin-box" (1845),[17] and "packed ... like sardines in a can" (1854).[18]
Although they are not true sardines,sprats are sometimes marketed as sardines. For example, theEuropean sprat,Sprattus sprattus, is sometimes marketed as the 'brisling sardine'.
^abcThere are four distinctstocks in the genusSardinops, widely separated by geography. The FAO treats these stocks as separate species, while FishBase treats them as one species,Sardinops sagax.[27]
In the 1980s theSouth American pilchard,Sardinops sagax, was the most intensively fished species of sardine. Some majorstocks declined precipitously in the 1990s (see chart below).
Typically, sardines are caught withencircling nets, particularlypurse seines. Many modifications of encircling nets are used, includingtraps orfishing weirs. 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 onplankton. After harvesting, the fish are submerged inbrine 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 intofish meal 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 ofpaint,varnish, andlinoleum.
Because they are low in the food chain, sardines are low in contaminants, such asmercury, relative toother fish commonly eaten by humans,[72][73] and have a relatively low impact in production ofgreenhouse gases.[72]
Pilchard fishing and processing became a thriving industry inCornwall,England from around 1750 to around 1880, after which it went into decline. Catches varied from year to year, and in 1871, the catch was 47,000hogsheads, 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 toRoman Catholic countries such asItaly andSpain, where they are known asfermades. The chief market for the oil wasBristol, where it was used on machinery.[74]
Since 1997, sardines from Cornwall have been sold as 'Cornish sardines', and since March 2010, under EU law, Cornish sardines haveProtected Geographical Status.[75] The industry has featured in numerous works of art, particularly byStanhope Forbes and otherNewlyn School artists.
The traditional "Toast to Pilchards" refers to the lucrative export of the fish to Catholic Europe:
In April 2015 thePacific Fishery Management Council voted to directNOAA Fisheries Service to halt the current commercial season inOregon,Washington andCalifornia, 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.[78] The ban was expected to last for more than a year, and was still in place as of August 2025[update].[79]
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.[80]
"Sardines" is also the name of achildren's game, 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.[81]
Among the residents of theMediterranean city ofMarseille, the local tendency to exaggerate is linked to afolk tale about a sardine that supposedly blocked the city's port in the 18th century. It was actually blocked by a ship called theSartine.
^Grant, W. S.; et al. (1998). "Why restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of mitochondrial DNA failed to resolve sardine (Sardinops) biogeography: insights from mitochondrial DNA cytochromeb sequences".Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.55 (12):2539–47.Bibcode:1998CJFAS..55.2539G.doi:10.1139/f98-127.
^Santos M, Villarao MC, Tambihasan AM, Villanueva JA, Parido L, Lopez G, Deligero R, Alcantara M, Doyola MC, Gatlabayan LV, Buccat FGA, Lanzuela N, Belga PB, Gapuz AV, Al-Khalaf K, Kaymaram F (2018)."Goldstripe Sardinella –Sardinella gibbosa".IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.2018 e.T46075248A46664239. Retrieved11 December 2018.
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