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Fish4Life provides everything you need to enjoy seafood responsibly. Explore information and practical tips for safe and sustainable seafood consumption, and help protect marine life by reporting undersized or illegally traded seafood.

Madeiran sardinella
Sardinella maderensis
Φρίσσα

Sustainability Status

Highly exploited

REPORT IT
Help us protect our seas by reporting illegal or undersized fish that you see in markets, restaurants or fishing boats
Fishstocks – Declining due to overexploitation
Think before you eat – This species faces increasing pressures and should only be consumed responsibly

Legal

Minimum Size

–

Prohibited Consumption Period

–

Sustainable

Minimum Size

17 cm

Avoid Consumption Period

April – September

Advice for Consumption

Think before consuming this species.

Greek legislation does not establish legal minimum size and no closed season, leaving juvenile and spawning fish completely unprotected. Always respect minimum sustainable size limits and do not consume this species during its breeding season.

Choose sustainable seafood!

Archipelagos Tips

Choosing larger, mature fish helps reduce fishing pressure on juvenile individuals.

Common names

FR

Sardinelle de Madère

it

Alaccia di Madera

es

Machuelo

tr

Madeira sardalyasi

pt

Sardinela-da-madeira

nl

Madeira sardinella

de

–

toxicity

This species is safe to consume.

iucn info

Vulnerable (VU)

Description

The body is long and can vary in depth. The belly has a sharp ridge. There are 31–34 hard, shield-like scales (scutes) along the underside of the body. The fish has many small gill rakers, with the number increasing as it grows. The outer side of the upper pectoral fin rays is white, while the membrane between them is black.

It looks like Sardinella aurita (Round sardinella), but it has 7 branched pelvic-fin rays instead of 8 and lacks the black spot usually found behind the gill cover. Instead, it may have a faint golden or black area just behind the gill opening. It can be distinguished from Sardinella rouxi (Yellowtail sardinella) by its much larger number of lower gill rakers. Its tail fin is grey with almost black tips, whereas Sardinella rouxi has a pale yellow tail with a darker edge.

Did you know?

Madeiran sardines have been found to produce sound while feeding!

Ecological Aspects

Diet

Planktivorous.
Feeds on a variety of small planktonic invertebrates, and also fish larvae and phytoplankton

habitat

A coastal species, but tolerant of low salinities, sometimes in estuaries and lagoons.

Max size & depth range

Max length: 30 cm
Max weight: 927 g
Depth range: 0-80 m

breeding & Growth

It breeds only once in the year, during the warm season in July through September, in coastal waters.
Growth rate: Moderate (k = 0.34yr⁻¹).

Longevity & presence

Lifespan: 3-8 years
Max reported age: 8 years
Distribution: Strongly migratory. From the Mediterranean Sea to the West African Coast.

appearance changes

It experiences only a few natural changes in appearance. These are primarily restricted to subtle shifts in body shape during spawning and minor variations in its fins based on its exact geographic location.

Reproductive Cycle

A single female produces 7,500 to 40,000 eggs per spawning batch. They can spawn 2 to 3 times per year.
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Good choice – Consumption of this species is currently considered sustainable

Illegal species – Fishing, selling and consumption of this species is illegal

Fishstocks – Declining due to overexploitation

Think before you eat – This species faces increasing pressures and should only be consumed responsibly

Bad choice – Consumption of this species is unsustainable

Health concerns –
Can accumulate dangerously high levels of toxic substances harmful to health

Alien / Invasive – This species is not from this region and can have a negative impact on the ecosystem and threaten local biodiversity, so it is sustainable to eat

Aquafarms – You will commonly find this species coming from aquafarms