THE REBRANDING of pilchards to the more palatable Cornish sardines led to a shift in demand that few thought possible. While pilchards were never in short supply and never subject to quota, the volumes landed in the mid 1990s were tiny as no one wanted to eat them.
This summer, pre-packed and marinated Cornish sardines were one of the biggest selling lines on the Sainsbury's fish counter. And every single one of those sardines was landed and processed by the Cornish Sardine Management Association (CSMA) based out of Newlyn and Mevagissey.
Around 200 to 250 tonnes of Cornish sardines are sold by Sainsbury's each year – representing around a tenth of the total volume landed.
Ally Dingwall, Sainsbury's aquaculture and fisheries manager, said the way the fish were sourced and caught were particularly important.
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He said: "Sainsbury's has a ratings system for all fish. Sardines are not a quota-ed fish and in our sustainability ratings system it would be amber-rated. But with Marine Stewardship Council's (MSC) certification, it becomes a green-rated fish."
On a recent trip on the Resolute, one of several sardine boats operating out of Newlyn, the crew demonstrated how they use ringnets to surround and catch the shoals of sardines. Sonar has replaced the traditional cliff-top lookouts for shoals but knowledge of fish hotspots, passed down through generations, is still important to help fishermen land the best catch.
Leaving the port just as the sun began to set on Mount's Bay, skipper Peter Bullock explained how the sardines tend to gather one hour before dusk.
Big ball
"Fish like it when it's dark," he said. "They don't like the moon – it makes them go right to the bottom.
"You find the fish just as it is getting dark. They gather in a big ball for about ten minutes. At this time of year we will shoot the nets just before 10pm."
James Roberts and Mathew Round make up the crew of the Resolute, which heads out six nights a week for sardines between July and April.
At times they will spend hours searching for shoals of up to four or five tonnes of fish at a time. A handful of other boats scattered around the Bay will follow a similar path, seagulls screeching in their wake.
As dusk fell, Andrew Lakeman, director of Ocean Fish, which owns the Resolute, explained how he first brought the ringnet method back from France.
"I was shooting driftnets in my spare time and then I had this idea of going to France to learn what they were doing differently to us," he said.
"I knew they were ringnetting but I didn't know the extent of it. I went out in the boats and came back with the idea of building a boat. We built this boat about six or seven years ago and we had two years of hard times in it and then it clicked."
He said demand was now such for sardines that the company was building another bigger boat to add to its fleet, which would be ready in November. "We have developed the sardine market in such a way that we need more," he added.
On the night we were at sea, sadly only small pockets of sardines were showing up on the sonar and scattering every time we approached.
The 10pm 'sardine hour' came and went and we continued to search.
As it neared midnight, the crew picked a spot to shoot the ringnet just once before returning to shore.
With gulls circling and squawking overhead, the nets were thrown, the buoys forming a giant circle at the side of the boat. The crew worked at high speed grabbing and tugging and struggling with the nets to bring them back before the birds ate the catch.
The process lasted around half an hour and despite early pessimistic forecasts, around 300kg of shiny silver sardines was landed and taken back to Newlyn Fish Market.
The Resolute is one of 16 ringnet and driftnet boats that can now add the Marine Stewardship Council's (MSC's) Certified sustainable seafood ecolabel to their catch following accreditation last week.
article copyright THE CORNISHMAN