THE SKIPPER
Peter Bullock has been fshing for sardines for Riddlers in Cornwall for nine years, skippering small fshing boats – the Resolute and the slightly larger Asthore – with his two-man crew. ‘Fishing for Cornish sardines is all about quality. We start fshing in mid-July and the season goes on to January or February. Sardines follow the warm water so they’re never too far out to sea. We mainly fsh out of Newlyn, in Mount’s Bay near St Michael’s Mount.
On the hunt for fsh ‘Usually, we leave the harbour an hour before dusk. In the daytime, the fsh are spread out and in deeper water. At night, they come nearer the surface and it’s the best time to catch them. ‘We’ll search around for an hour and establish where the best sardines are. It’s made easier by using sonar on the boat – this electronic gadget looks ahead and gives us a picture of where the shoals of fsh are on a screen so we know where to shoot the nets, just as it gets dark. ‘We use “ring nets” to catch sardines. It’s a more responsible and sustainable method – there’s no “bycatch” so when we’re fshing for sardines we get just sardines. A ring net is a length of net that we shoot
into the water in a circle around the fsh. The bottom of the net is closed and we haul it back in so the fsh are alongside the boat, before taking a sample of the fsh to check the quality and size. We have immense pride in what we do – we only want good quality fsh that are the right size. ‘As we fsh so close to the shore (sometimes only 10-20 minutes out to sea), if we shoot our nets at 6pm and get a good catch, we’ll be back in the harbour by 9 o’clock and unloaded by midnight. Sardines are becoming so popular that we’re catching as much as 20 tonnes of fsh in one evening. ‘When the fsh comes over the side, it’s brilliant quality. We want to keep it in as good a condition as possible. It’s kept on ice until we get back to the harbour, before being sent to Riddlers’ factory where they process the fsh. Within 48 hours, that fsh will be on the shelves in Asda.’
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‘Sardines seem to be back in fashion now, and it’s easy to see why,’ says Emily. ‘They’re an oily fsh, packed with omega-3 so they’re nutritious and good for you. When buying sardines, look for ones with clear, shiny eyes and scales, and bright red gills – that means they’re really fresh. ‘If you’ve never cooked sardines before, preparing them is easy if you keep it simple – you don’t need to do much to them. Grill or oven-bake them with a little olive oil, or use them in a salad niçoise instead of tuna. I also love them as part of a simple barbecue on the beach – perfect for summer. ‘And the way sardines are caught now is so much better for the environment. Fishermen used to have to follow the Common Fisheries Policy, introduced in the 1970s, which limited the number of days they spent at sea and set quotas on how much fsh they could catch. This meant they threw any dead fsh back in the sea. ‘Then, in January 2014, a ban on “discarding” fsh was introduced. Riddlers’ fshermen’s ring netting method allows them to just catch sardines – there’s little risk of catching other fsh by mistake.’
Emily’s favourite sardine recipe... SARDINES WITH MUSTARD & LEMON BUTTER Make cuts in the fesh of both sides of cleaned sardines. Put in a greased ovenproof dish. Mix some butter with Dijon mustard and lemon juice, and spread evenly over the sardines. Bake in the oven at 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5 for 20mins. Sprinkle with chopped fat-leaf parsley and serve with lemon wedges.
PHOTOGRAPHS: KATE WHITAKER
Emily Winters, Asda Fish Team