The harvesting of sardines began
With primitive, sea-faring Man,
Who found them delicious,
Abundant and nutritious,
And conveniently packed in a can.
Wikipedia says that sardine is something of a generic term. It can refer to a variety of small, oily herring fish of Family Clupeidae. Perhaps 21 or more species are commonly labelled “sardines” for human consumption or other commercial applications, such as bait or a supplemental source of omega-3 fatty acids, which were until recently widely considered beneficial to health. The first English use of “sardine” dates to the early fifteenth century and may be derived from the fishing grounds around the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. In some markets, sardines are known as “pilchards.” Some sources maintain that sardines represent the “single largest component of fish harvesting done around the world.”
