Guide to Buying Canned Sardines

[kwilkinson]

@ OP

 

[why]

Originally Posted by foodguy

one of the great ironies of modern life: a lot of the canned sardines you buy ARE from the west coast. but it's cheaper to ship them overseas for processing and then ship them back here for sale than it is to do the work here.

Also, shipping from the west coast to the east coast is more costly than shipping out of many European and African ports.

As well, sardines may exist in certain waters but if theyre not numerous enough then commercial fishing industries in those respective areas will not be viable. Sardines being used as bait requires few sardines and no costs with processing.

 

[DNW]

Good info man. I haven't had a sardine sammich in a long time. I'll look out for a nice can next time I go to the market.

 

[jaydc7]

Thanks for this why. I just started eating sardines and this is great.

 

[foodguy]

Originally Posted by why

Also,sardines may exist in certain waters but if theyre not numerous enough then commercial fishing industries in those respective areas will not be commercially viable. Sardines being used as bait requires few sardines and no costs with processing.

actually, there is a huge sardine fishery out of central and southern california. with squid, it's probably the last of our great commercial fisheries. and they end up selling most of it for a few dollars a ton. it then gets frozen and shipped to Indonesia for processing.

 

[why]

Originally Posted by foodguy

it then gets frozen and shipped to Indonesia for processing.

Such a waste.

One note I didn't add to my first post to avoid turning people away from sardines: they sometimes have roe in them. The roe is dry and looks like little grains of sand. It's edible, so don't freak out if some of the sardines have roe in them.

 

[Grayland]

As long as the sardines aren't extruded, I'm all for them.

Seriously, good stuff Why.

 

[BDC2823]

Originally Posted by foodguy

actually, there is a huge sardine fishery out of central and southern california. with squid, it's probably the last of our great commercial fisheries. and they end up selling most of it for a few dollars a ton. it then gets frozen and shipped to Indonesia for processing.

Thanks for the info guys. Sardines are rather plentiful as well as anchovies. They are everywhere. Smelt and mackerel are also all over the damn place here. As for squid...I think we are getting hit with a humboldt squid run right now. I've gone out on boats and caught these 20-50 lb guys (hell I've even caught them off of Balboa Pier in Newport). They taste pretty good and put up a great fight when catching them. Unfortunately, they have an appetite for destruction and eat every damn thing in their way so I don't care for seeing them much. Although, the funniest thing ever is watching someone who knows nothing about them catch one and hold it right up to their face...and the squid squirts a large blast of water or ink in their face.

As for the little guys, we get squid runs every so often and they are by far the best bait out there. Fish go crazy for live squid.

 

[otc]

What about the scandinavian sardines? King Oscar (norway IIRC) and the such?

 

[gomestar]

it is because of this thread that I picked up some Norwegan smoked sardines on the way home from work.

 

[why]

Originally Posted by otc

What about the scandinavian sardines? King Oscar (norway IIRC) and the such?

King Oscar is the distributor, but they have canneries all around the world. Some products are from Morocco, some are from Poland, and some are from Canada. On their website they claim they fish them out of the North Atlantic and Baltic, but if the sardines are fished out of the North Atlantic and processed in Morocco they're obviously frozen first. I would think King Oscar sardines processed in Poland are the best quality, but I confess to never taking the effort to track down King Oscar's Polish-canned sardines.

 

[why]

Originally Posted by gomestar

it is because of this thread that I picked up some Norwegan smoked sardines on the way home from work.

Details after you taste them.

Even if you can't have them with the bread, have them with a beer. It's like prosciutto e melone -- an amazing pair that needs to be tried to really be understood.

 

[globetrotter]

why, this is great, thanks.

care to do the same for tuna?

 

[itsstillmatt]

Great. Can you do a post on anchovies next?

 

[tropics]