Cornwall, in southwest England, once had a thriving fishing industry and at the heart of this industry was the pilchard, also known as sardines. Cornwall fishermen caught sardines in enormous quantities and shipped them to France, Spain and Italy, where salted pilchard was in great demand especially in the remote rural regions. During the mid-18th century, Cornwall exported 30,000 hogsheads (around 6,300 tons) of pilchards every year on average. This rose to more than 40,000 hogsheads (around 8,400 tons) by mid-19th century. In 1868, pilchard fishermen at St Ives caught a record 5,600 hogsheads (around 1100 tons) on a single seine net.
Fishermen tucking seine nets loaded with pilchards at Gunwalloe, Cornwall, in 1899. Photo: Helston Museum
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