Supermarket deal a major boost for our sustainable sardine fisheries

IT is one of the most iconic of Westcountry industries, inspiring painters and photographers down the decades and conjuring up a sense of place and tradition, underscoring our close connection to the sea.

Cornish sardine fishing has been a mainstay of coastal life in this part of the world for five centuries. But, like so many of the industries which once supported thriving communities, it gradually fell on hard times and dwindled in scale to a shadow of what it once was.

At one time, huge numbers of people were employed in both fishing for and preserving Cornish sardines – or pilchards, as they were previously known.

The fish were salted, before the invention of electric refrigeration, and stacked in wooden barrels and boxes to be sold throughout Europe.

Between 1750 and 1880, there were hundreds of vessels catching the fish from ports all around Cornwall. According to the website www. cornishsardines.org.uk, records show that in 1847 around 8,000 tonnes were exported and over 1,000 tonnes were caught in St Ives bay in a single night. By the beginning of the 20th century, dozens of plants, salting pilchards in Cornwall, supplied booming Italian, French and Spanish markets.

The profitable industry eventually collapsed and by the 1980s, with alternatives of fresh and frozen fish available, little pilchard fishing took place due to limited market opportunities. Stocks remained healthy, but catches fell to around seven tonnes a year in the early 1990s, and it took a major rethink in fishing techniques and image to breathe new life into the sector.

The pilchards were rebranded as Cornish sardines in the 1990s, later becoming certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. In 2007, under the EU’s protected names scheme, the ‘Cornish sardine’ was granted Product of Geographical Indication (PGI) status, much like Melton Mowbray pork pies, Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese and Jersey royal potatoes – not forgetting the Cornish pasty.

The Cornish sardine has been given a boost by its sustainable credentials and promoted by celebrity chefs, with most sold fresh on fish counters in this country, or in frozen or chilled packs.

So it is encouraging news that supermarket giant Tesco has now struck a deal with the Cornish sardine fishermen – working out of places including Newlyn, Mevagissey, Falmouth and Plymouth – to market the product in cans for domestic shoppers.

Most pilchards consumed in the UK are sold in a can, but the vast majority come from Morocco.

Westcountry restauranteur Mitch Tonks launched his own tinned seafood range last year and it is to be hoped Tesco’s tinned Cornish sardines venture encourages people to also buy local, and support a fishery which is certified as sustainable, helping to ensure a future for stocks against a backdrop of global overfishing.

People can be a bit sniffy about tinned fish, but the products are not what they were – the Tesco product even features a tomato, olive and caper sauce – and can be surprisingly affordable.

So now’s the time to support the local fishing industry and stick a tin or two in the trolley.