3-078-213 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The French Sardine Industry, 1890. '1. Fishermen Embarking; 2. Sardine-Fishing; 3. Raising Nets; 4. A Breton Workwoman; 5. Landing and Counting Fish; 6. Cutting off Heads; 7. Salting; 8. Cooking. On the western coasts of France and Brittany...4274 boats, manned by 21,746 men, are employed in this fishery, which probably...supports more than 100,000 of the population...The sardines are usually found in shoals, where there is no great depth of sea...When the fishery is abundant, one haul of the net may bring up 15,000 sardines, or sometimes even more...the yield of 1889 was considerable, and there is no fear of the species becoming extinct...the sardines gather in immense multitudes, moving about in all directions, till the water is hardly to be seen, covered with bright flashing bodies of fish...The work of the manufacturer, in preparing and preserving sardines, is at once commenced. They are thrown on tables, sprinkled with salt; the heads are taken off and salted. The fish, after sufficient salting, are washed, and placed on gridirons to be dried...The fish are fried in boiling oil, during two, three, or four minutes, according to their size...in a well- fitted establishment, 150,000 or 200,000 sardines can be cooked in a day'. From "Illustrated London News", 1890.