This traditional kind of fishery had changed but little since the Middle Ages, when 

 pilchards from Boulogne, the large "sardines de derive" from Brittany and the "sardines 

 sauvages " from the Vendee were salted and pressed in barrels. But the discoveries of 

 Nicholas Appert and the setting-up of a canning industry gave new life to the sardine ports and 

 now the young fishes were most in demand for packing into air-tight, sterilised tins. Each 

 technical innovation stirred up agitations among the population of small fishermen. When 

 automatic crimping replaced the old soldering by hand ; when it was thought desirable to have 

 dinghies like those of the Sables-d'Olonne to help with the manoeuvring of the sardine boats; 

 when " turning-nets " were shown to be better than" straight nets "; when engines were intro- 

 duced into the boats — each time there were strikes and riots and " sardine crises ", with which 

 were mixed doubtful intrigues under the cover of " economic questions at the political level ". 

 Similarly in the Mediterranean the question of the lamparo net raises endless protests. Tech- 

 nical progress is held back by such dissensions with their electoral bias, while the demands of 

 the fishermen, too high prices, traditional prejudice and the lack of industrial concentration, 

 hinder canning plants from taking the place that is coming back to them in the trend of world 

 affairs. To excuse this lack of planning, business men blame the sardine and " accuse " it of 

 deserting our coasts. Now, nothing of the kind has happened, but it is still necessary to take 

 the trouble of looking for it. The biology of this valuable fish is becoming better and better 

 known but it would be more to Ihe point if this had some influence on the customs of those that 

 fish it and put it to account. 



The sardine (Sardiiia pilcliardns) is a fish belonging to Atlantic waters. It has a dark- 

 blue back, sometimes marked by a row of black spots, and silvery underparts. The scales, 

 which fall out very easily, are rather few in number, there being from 30 to 40 series of rows. 

 Beginning in the North Sea, its geographical range extends down as far as the Mauretanian 

 coast and even to Dakar. Sardines belong to various local races, this being shown by the 

 work of J. Furnestin. He distinguishes four races by their average numbers of vertebrae, these 

 being : (a) Northern Allatilic race, from the North Sea to the Gantabrian coast; 52 vertebrae; 



(b) Southern Allunlic race, from the Gantabrian coast to the Gulf of Gadiz; 51 vertebrae; 



(c) Moroccan race, Morocco and Rio de Oro; 50 vertebrae; (d) Mauretanian race; from Rio de 

 Oro to Dakar; 51 vertebrae. 



During their life, sardines undertake considerable migrations. The adults live in the 

 northern part of the geographical range of their race but the immature fishes move far to the 

 south to seek warmer and lighter conditions. The large sardines of the northern race, the 

 pilchards of the English and the " celans " of Boulogne, live in the North Sea up to the coast 

 of Northumberland. They measure from 10 to 11 inches and are up to 10 years old. Younger 

 adults between 2 and 5 years old populate the coastal waters off Brittany but the immature 

 fishes grow up at the bottom of the Bay of Biscay near Saint-.Jean-de-Luz. Two to six year old 

 adults of the northern race are met with again along the northern coast of Spain, whereas the 

 young ones swim in Portuguese waters. Similarly, off Morocco, the large sardines are found 

 around Safi and the small ones near Agadir. The Mauretanian race, which was first described 

 by Monod and rediscovered by Furnestin, is a dwarf race. When about 4 years old these fishes 

 do not measure more than 4 J inches. The shoals appear to be rather sparse but extend down 

 as far as Dakar. 



The arrival of the transgressions has a great influence on spawning, which takes place at 

 temperatures between 10° and 17°C., varying according to the race. Sardines are catadromous 

 fishes and go deeper in order to spawn. Their numerous spawning places have been found, 

 these being; from Gibraltar to the Galician coast, November to June; from Santander to Arca- 

 chon, from November to April; otT the Breton coast, from February to July; and in the English 

 Channel and the North Sea, from April to November. Two populations can be distinguished 

 within the northern race. There is an Aquitanian population, the young of which are born in 

 the Bay of Biscay, where they spend their first two years. Then, having spawned, they move 

 back to the north and do not return to their birth-place. The Armorican population is hatched 

 in the Celtic Sea or along the south coast of Brittany. The fry move down to the region off 



67 



