The sardine, a staple on tapas menus and survivalist bunkers worldwide, will be a bit harder to find in the coming years, as federal regulators have closed fishing season on the West Coast early and plan to keep it closed for the next season as well. Fisherman in California, Washington and Oregon must cease their operations with the hopes that the tiny fish's population can bounce back following a 93% crash since 2007. Thank goodness those tinned varieties have a long shelf life!
Some, like conservation group Oceana, link the depletion of the sardine population to overfishing, while others say population ebbs are part of a natural process. Either way, the declining population spells bad news not only for the fisherman who profit off sardines, but also the ocean ecosystem at large, which relies on the sardines to keep larger mammals, birds and fish fed.
"We have been seeing the impacts of a collapsing sardine population on sea lions and seabirds for years now," says Oceana scientist Ben Enticknap. "Sardine are also prey for recreationally and commercially important species like Chinook salmon and albacore tuna, so the effects of a lack of sardine could have much wider impacts." It's estimated that 90% of this year's sea lions pups starved to death as a direct result of dwindling sardine populations. Boycott tapas.
