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FISH GUIDE · Sea

European pilchard: identification, habitat and fishing guide

Sardina pilchardus

A small schooling marine fish of open water, the sardine must be distinguished from other silvery fish. Feathered hook lines are scientifically documented; their presentation remains an indicative adaptation subject to French rules.

Catalogue names : European pilchard. Forms and names may vary between habitats.

Editorial review : · This species guide is not permission to fish. Read the precautions below and check the current rules for your location before targeting a species. Some species or populations are protected.

Geographical distribution

Found in the Northeast Atlantic from Iceland and Norway to Senegal; DORIS also documents it in the Mediterranean, especially its western part, and as far as the Black Sea.

  • Documented presence : Northeast Atlantic
  • Documented presence : Mediterranean Sea
  • Documented presence : Black Sea

Documented areas, not an exhaustive list. Presence in a region does not imply presence in every water body or permission to fish.

Distribution sources

Identification

A striated gill cover and elongated last two anal-fin rays. Compare the mouth with anchovy, whose opening extends farther backwards: neither a blue back nor silvery colour is sufficient.

Habitat

Coastal waters of the northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean. A passing shoal defines neither a lasting fishing spot nor authorised access.

Diet

Zooplankton, notably small crustaceans.

Behaviour

Shoals change depth during the day; absence at the surface does not prove they are absent.

Record direction, apparent depth and visibility without confusing shoal movement with observed feeding.

Spawning is split into several batches of eggs.

Indicative biological size

A common length of 15–20 cm in the FAO guide; a descriptive range.

Fishing context and precautions

Uğur and Öztekin report 89 sardines in their study of different çaparıs in the Aegean; Iwano and Öztürk also record them in Galata Bridge catches. These catches confirm feathered hook lines without supplying French rules.

Öztekin and colleagues’ 2019 study precisely describes a çaparí intended for sardine and sand smelt: dressed hooks on short snoods spaced along a fine mainline, with a sinker suited to the current. It records only 13 sardines in 2015–2018; the yield of all fish therefore does not become effectiveness specific to sardine.

The indicative adaptation is to present a dressed line in the layer where the shoal is identified, keeping the sinker compatible with rod and current. Control lowering and retrieval without seeking a supposedly optimal cadence. Prepare unhooking for this easily scaled fish before lowering and check the total hook count permitted in France; experimental dimensions and sinker weights are not universal prescriptions.

A distinctive feature

Its scales come off easily: limit rubbing when observing it.

Spawning is split into several batches of eggs.

Sources and review

Each reference includes its access date. Overall editorial review: . Local conditions and regulations may change.

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