Small pelagic fish often found in association with mackerel and anchovy, Pacific sardines are a member of the herring family. The principal stock ranges from northern Baja California northward as far as Alaska. Historically this population migrated extensively, moving north as far as British Columbia in summer and returning to southern California in the fall. In the 1930's and '40's, Pacific sardines provided the source for the largest fishery in North America; the sardine industry centered in California. More than 100 canneries and reduction plants from San Diego to San Francisco employed thousands of workers to process sardines. At its peak in 1936-37, this industry encompassed more than 350 boats, which produced 726,000 tons of fish. About 70% of the catch was reduced for fishmeal and 30% went for food -- three million cases of canned sardines.
Beginning in the late 1940's, sardines vanished -- first from the Pacific Northwest, then from Monterey, and in the 1950's from southern California. Scientists now recognize that, beyond fishing pressure, a change in oceanic cycles, reflected in an extended period of below-normal water temperatures, greatly influenced the decline.
In this current warm-water oceanic cycle, sardines have returned to abundance and fishing is regulated by quotas determined by the size of the spawning biomass. Today a much smaller wetfish fleet fishes sardines. In Monterey, sardine fishing peaks in summertime, when the fish are larger. In southern California, the sardine fishery begins in January. A federal management plan for coastal pelagic species, including sardines, anchovy, and mackerel, is under development by the Pacific Fishery Management Council
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