Fish

Sandeel

Sandeels (sand lances, Ammodytidae)—including the lesser sandeel Ammodytes tobianus—are slender, silvery shoaling fish that bury in clean sand and form a critical forage base in North Atlantic food webs. For the table they are small, oily, and delicate: fried whole like whitebait, used as bait, or processed in industrial fisheries. Flavour is mild-marine with a soft bone structure when tiny. Dust in flour and fry hot; serve with lemon. Conservation and quota debates are intense because sandeels feed seabirds, larger fish, and marine mammals—prefer fisheries with strong management when buying human-food packs. Not a supermarket staple everywhere, but a traditional seasonal fry in parts of northern Europe and East Asia (related sand lance species).