Juicy, sweet and mild in flavour, Good Fish sardines are caught off the coast of Spain and Portugal (FAO Areas 27 and 34) in the middle of the night and cooked and filleted onshore in Spain the following day, to ensure optimal quality.

Firm of flesh and excellent to eat, Good Fish sardines are preserved in certified organic extra virgin olive oil to maximise their flavour. Caught in small boats with small nets, these sardines are a small breed that is sustainable, renew quickly and have a small environmental footprint.

Preserved whole (minus the head and digestive system), sardines have well documented health properties and are robust, choice eating.

Eat them whole, or serve as part of a salad.

Why Good Fish Spanish Sardines in Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil is great

1. Wild fished

2. Sustainably caught (FAO Areas 27 and 34) under the European Commission's Common Fisheries Policy

3. Fished to quotas

4. 100 percent dolphin safe

5. Fished in small boats with small nets (no sonar)

6. Species of “least concern” in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species guide

7. BPA free

8. Chemical free

9. Additive free

10. Certified organic (olive oil)

11. Hand processed

12. Fair trade (workers are responsibly paid)

13. Nutrient rich

14. Taste great

More about Good Fish Sardines 

These premium sardines have been caught wild off the Portuguese coast and are filleted with plenty of love and zero chemicals. Caught at night, by small boats with small nets, they're hand filleted and prepared as the sun rises the next morning. If a dolphin makes its way into the catch, the whole lot is released back into the ocean. Rich in nutrients like Omega-3 fatty acid, they're kept fresh in organic extra virgin olive oil. All the flavour you want, nothing you don't.

Why Wild Caught Sardines 

Sardines have a bad reputation in Australia, but only among people who haven't tried Good Fish sardines. Juicy, sweet and mild, these are some of the world's best sardines, wonderful to eat and highly sustainable. Fished off the coast of Spain and Portugal, from Gibraltar in the south up to Porto in the north, these sardines are of a superior quality due to the temperature of the waters and the food they eat. We fish in this area at times when the temperature is optimum, following the changes in the water daily to find the best fish at any one time. The sardines are caught by night, and loaded into the port and processing facility in the morning, to ensure total freshness and quality.

Sustainability

• Good Fish sardines are wild caught by local fisherman working in managed areas (FAO 27 and 34) with small boats and small nets under the European Commission's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
• Fish are caught in small local boats that use small nets. Reduction of by-catch is paramount. If a dolphin is in the net the whole batch must be released. 
• The fish are not found by sonar.
• These sardines (sardina pilchardus) are categorised as a species of "least concern" in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species guide (www.iucnredlist.org).
• Sardines have a minimum fish size of 11cm. There are minimum mesh sizes for the nets. 
• The fish are caught to a quota system, and in certain areas and seasons to ensure maintenance of the species.

Quality And Health Credentials

• Sardines are one of the lowest-risk species of fish for mercury content due to being a small and short-lived fish. 
• Sardines are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, selenium, bioavailable calcium and phosphorus, especially as Good Fish sardines contain skin and bones.
• The fish are caught close to the processing facility, carefully chilled, then processed fresh within 24 hours.
• Processing is done by hand in Spain in traditional methods that have been honed by skilful craftswomen over generations.
• The oil used is a Spanish certified organic extra virgin olive oil which enhances the flavour. The preserve's flavour matures with age, like wine.
• No chemicals are used in the processing or preserving of these fish. In some parts of the world is common to dip the fish for chemical peeling. Good Fish's facility in Spain was the first fish-processing facility to gain organic certification for processing with organic oils totally free from contamination, naturally.
• All Good Fish wild-caught fish are selected where they are best in the world and processed by the best in the world. That's the Good Fish point of difference.
• Fishing is done mainly in the summer when the quality of the fish is better because their fat level is higher, the meat is more tender and the taste is delicious.
• All tins are BPA-free and have been since BPA-free tins became available. Good Fish has been ahead of the pack in this regard. 
• In processing, the innards and blood and removed before processing which leads to superior flavour, tenderness, fat properties and quality in the fish. 

Community Benefits

• This is a traditional southern Spanish and Portuguese product. For the local producers, the benefits are enormous, bringing economic benefit to an economically challenged region. Fishing and fish processing are reliable sources of employment and a source of cultural pride.
• The hand-processing component of this product done entirely by women, as is the tradition. Some of the women who work in peeling and filleting have been proudly employed in their craft for a lifetime.
• As these producers have enormous pride in their product, they are extremely careful to supply only the finest quality fish and to treat it with the utmost respect. The end result is a superior product.