Not to worry - the sardines are coming back, too. They usually do. Nature is extremely resilient.
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Don't hold your breath, but maybe the fish that once supported the largest commercial fishery in the Western Hemisphere may be making a comeback after more than a decade of almost total absence from California waters. During the 1930's and 40's the Pacific sardine accounted for one-fourth of all the fish landed in the United States.
The sardine fishery began as a result of the demand for non-perishable food during world war I. Tinned sardines became the basis for a substantial shore-side industry, most notably at Monterey's Cannery Row that was made famous by the Steinbeck novel of the same name.
Due to poor fishery management and global weather conditions the sardine industry totally collapsed in the early 1950's. On the verge of extinction, the sardine was place on an incidental catch only basis. Now, due to favorable ocean conditions and ironically, fishing pressure placed on the sardines’ chief oceanic competitor, the anchovy, the sardine could be poised for an explosive recovery.
Southern California mackerel and squid fishermen report vastly
increased amounts of sardines being caught in the same nets as the squid and mackerel. Commercial fishermen are allowed to sell these incidentally caught sardines because they are not the primary target species. In the past couple of years sardines have been showing up in the fish market on a pretty
regular basis and probably will continue to do so. The Pacific sardine is equaled in flavor only by the sardine of the Sardinian coast. Sardinia is where this diminutive fish was first enjoyed, thus it's name, sardine.
The sardine, actually a type of herring, can be distinguished from other members of its' family by the six distinctive black dots on either side of its' body. When mature the California sardine averages three per pound.
Sardines can be charcoal grilled, fried or baked in the oven, smoking and pickling also produce delicious results. The natural sweetness of fresh sardines provide a wonderful counterpoint to sharply flavored ingredients such as mustard or bitter greens
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