Facts On Sardines

Sardines are often sold in cans with peel back lids.

While commercially the term "sardine" has expanded to include any small herring-like fish, most commonly it refers to the Pacific sardine. The Pacific sardine has two main spawning areas that exist of the coast of Baja California and southern California. After spawning the fish migrate north toward Canadian waters where they are harvested by fishing companies. After preservation and canning, diners eat sardines as snacks on crackers, in salads or as an ingredient in sandwiches.

Nutritional Information

While the nutritional information for different types of sardines varies slightly, each serving contains about 217 calories. Those calories are spread over 100 grams of food. Within the 100 grams, there are about 12.4 grams of fat, with 2.8 grams being saturated fat. There are 82 mg of cholesterol, 918 mg of sodium and about 24.6 grams of protein. Because sardines are meat, there are no carbohydrates.

Size

Though some sardines can grow as big as 16 inches, they tend to be less than 12 inches, with the average maturity about 9.5 inches. The region where the sardine grows affects average length. For example, larger sardines are found in southern climates vs. northern climates. Females also tend to grow faster than males.

Lifespan

While some sardines will reach maturity by the end of their first year, most do not fully mature until their second year. The maximum age range of a sardine is 13 to 25 years. Most sardines, however, only live eight years. When they mature and how long the live may decline with a decrease of biomass.

Place in the Ecosystem

Sardines serve as food for larger prey in the environment. Birds, larger fish and mammals all feed on sardines. As other food supply decreases, sardines may become more important to the ocean ecosystem. Sardines themselves are filter feeders. This means they literally filter organisms through their mouth by swallowing small prey like plankton, filtering the prey into their stomach and releasing the water back into the ocean.

United States Sardine Fishing Policy

The sardine population naturally goes through a "boom and bust" cycle. This means that they may reproduce rapidly for several years, and then in the year following not reproduce as much. The sardine cycle is 30 to 40 years. Therefore, the United States has adopted a policy that after spawning, there must be a stock of 150,000 metric tons available before a harvest can even be considered. Once the threshold is met, the United States then sanctions a harvest of between 5 and 15 percent based on the amount of sardines available and the water temperature in the Pacific ocean. Fluctuations in water temperature have been found to adversely effect the sardine population.

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