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Processing - The Maine Sardine Tradition

The Maine sardine is recognized as the world standard for excellence in sardines. Around the globe there are more than 20 varied species packed as sardines, but it is our local sardine, Clupea harengus, that is unsurpassed for quality. This versatile little fish also known as the Atlantic or sea herring, has long been an important resource to the State of Maine, longer in fact than Maine has been a state. Great schools of silvery sardines from the Maine coast were harvested by American Indians for centuries and were reliably used as an important source of good food.

Weirs, crude brushwood traps, were used by native Americans to capture the small fish as they swam in shallow coastal waters. In the nineteenth century, Maine commercial fisherman adopted very similar fishing techniques and set stationary weirs in coves and along coastal areas that are often visited by the young herring – the fish come in at night with the flood tide and are left trapped in the weir when the tide goes out.

Today, modern technology has refined the sardine fishing industry to include the use of large boats called seiners that take advantage of sophisticated detection equipment such as depth recorders, echo sounding devices, and even light airplanes to watch for the flash of silver that marks nearby schools of small herring. The seiners use large nets to efficiently encircle schools, then a drawstring is pulled to close the bottom and trap the fish within. Use of modern-day seines gives the fisherman the flexibility to follow the fish offshore rather than wait for them to enter a stationary shoreside weir. To insure that only the freshest product reaches the public, netted fish are quickly dispatched to modern canneries for careful processing.

Today BEACH CLIFF continues the tradition of producing quality Maine sardines. All BEACH CLIFF Sardines must meet our high standards before they are released for sale. Every case lot is meticulously inspected and carefully evaluated for strict adherence to 21 quality factors and we operate our facilities under the rigorous HACCP program monitored by the F.D.A. Our successful quality testing program assures all consumers that they have purchased a product packed under our exacting quality standards. BEACH CLIFF Sardines and Fish Steaks are recognized everywhere as synonymous with high quality. BEACH CLIFF Sardines and Fish Steaks are a delicious, versatile, and affordable seafood.

BEACH CLIFF - Fresh from the Sea >>