7 tinned fish and conservas brands to snack on year-round
Sustainability never tasted so savory.
Credit:
Fishwife
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In my professional life as a chef and restaurateur, I’ve dealt with a lot of fresh fish—ordering it, breaking it down, serving it, teaching others about it. I love fish! In more recent years, I’ve found that I enjoy tinned fish in much the same way: over steamed rice and often some esoteric seaweed. Outside of my restaurant, I’ve also found it easier as a consumer to purchase traceable and sustainable fish in tins than purchasing fresh fish. This is because fish tin labels can provide a lot of information about how the fish is caught or raised.
What makes tinned fish sustainable?
Tinned seafood comes in all varieties, so it's important to read the label closely.
Not all tinned fish is created equally sustainable, so my longtime salmon specialist, champion of the aquaculture, and sales rep friend Emma Rooney joined me on this journey through tinned fish. Rooney advises, “Look for tinned fish [brands] that share where they’ve sourced the fish from.”
Labels can certainly be confusing and sometimes subject to greenwashing. When seeking wild caught tinned fish, it’s important to familiarize oneself with methods which reduce bycatch such as line-and-pole-caught, seine nets, and pelagic trawls (typically used for shoaling species like mackerel, herring, and sprats).
“Tinned fish packaging can allow for more transparency as customers can find such information on its label.” Rooney refers to direct-to-consumer tinned seafood brand Fishwife as an example, explaining that “Fishwife sources its 100% traceable steelhead trout from Riverence in Idaho, a company that is conscious of harvesting smaller, trout-sized fish for a smaller carbon footprint.”
Using farm-raised trout means less depletion of wild trout stocks. “I’d be hesitant about tinned fish brands that don’t share their sourcing details,” she warns. “A big key to sustainable seafood is knowing where the raw ingredients come from. It’s exciting to see tinned fish companies using sustainable aquaculture producers as their raw material sources.”
The greatest guarantee we can get for the sustainability of tinned fish across the board is their ability to minimize food waste. Fish that goes into tins is always caught at peak season so you can be guaranteed a flavorful product that is caught when fish stocks are at their highest concentration.
Since canning can preserve fish for five years, tinned fish companies can prevent waste when fish surpluses occur. Unlike when shopping for fresh fish, I don’t have to worry about the shelf life of my seafood and food waste is avoided in my home as well. Tins are recyclable and the art of conserving fish in tins often enhances the flavor of the fish itself.
Here are seven of my favorite tinned fish and conservas brands you can order online.
1. La Brùjula
I ordered La Brùjula's Yellowfin Tuna and Razorshells.
If there ever was a gateway fish into the world of tinned fish, La Brùjula’s Yellowfin Tuna Belly would be it. Buttery fillets of tuna are packed into olive oil so delicious that I drank it like a shot, head tilted back, once the fish was gone. At $18 this tin isn’t cheap, but it’s hopelessly addictive, so consider this a warning. I ordered one 4-ounce tin each of La Brùjula Yellowfin Tuna and Razorshells from Snuk Foods, one of my favorite online platforms for discovering new, interesting and sometimes unfamiliar to me foods.
Get La Brùjula’s Yellowfin Tuna Belly at Snuk Foods for $18
2. Fishwife
This new direct-to-consumer tinned fish brand is women-owned.
As a person who also happens to own a retail sauce company, I’m keenly aware of how valuable it can be to order directly from producers, especially tiny ones, as retail markups are typically 50%. I pre-ordered my smoked albacore tuna from the Fishwife, a business dreamt up amid the pandemic.
I paid about $7 in shipping, waited about a week and a half, and then my 3.5-ounce cans of Wild-Caught Smoked Albacore Tuna ($19.99 for a pack of three) showed up with a delightful set of stickers. I love stickers. Fishwife’s packaging is as unique and beautiful as the product contained within.
Get the 3-pack of Wild-Caught Smoked Albacore Tuna at Fishwife for $19.99
3. Patagonia Provisions
Patagonia Provisions was founded in 2012 by Yvon Chouinard.
Patagonia Provisions, an offshoot of Patagonia, is a company whose ethics I deeply admire and was thus curious about how they package and ship their sustainable food products. As a certified B Corp, it focuses on regenerative organic agriculture as a way to source food sustainably.
I ordered the Savory Sofrito Mussels and Lemon Olive Spanish White Anchovies directly from the Patagonia Provisions website. Unlike the anchovies often found on mediocre pizza, this 4.2-ounce tin of ‘chovies isn’t overly salty and instead is extremely delicate in flavor. Patagonia Provisions lists the sourcing information for all of its food, including the mussels I ordered, which come from an estuary in northern Spain.
Get Patagonia Provisions tinned seafood starting at $7
4. Matiz
Matiz's wild-caught sardines make a great snack on their own, or added to sauces for extra flavor.
I ordered Matiz’s 4.2-ounce tin of Gallego Sardines in Olive Oil from Snuk Foods. This fish tastes simple, pure, and fresh, packed with delicate skin intact. Like Patagonia Provisions, Matiz also sources its seafood from northern Spain, working with small family-owned operations. Rooney and I enjoyed these sardines over steamed sushi rice and seaweed.
Get Matiz Gallego Sardines in Olive Oil at Snuk Foods for $9.99
5. Don Gastronom
This tinned octopus is perfect for your next picnic.
Don Gastronom was founded in 1966 and specializes in tinned seafood derived from the Galician coast. Tins range from $5 to $10 and come in colorful boxes, the interiors of which can be unfolded and consulted for recipe suggestions. I ordered a 3.8-ounce tin of Octopus with Garlic Sauce from Di Bruno Bros., a Philadelphia-based specialty foods purveyor that ships nationwide.
Don Gastronom’s tinned octopus is one of my favorite conservas because it’s basically tapas-in-a-tin. It would be perfect for a picnic with friends—all you need are toothpicks and a picnic blanket, plus maybe a few slices of crusty bread and a pat of butter.
Get Don Gastronom Octopus with Garlic Sauce at Di Bruno Bros. for $9
6. Conservas Ortiz
Conservas Ortiz uses purse seine in its anchovy fishing to reduce bycatch, or unintentionally caught fish.
The Spanish company Conservas Ortiz has specialized in packing white tuna—or Bonito del Norte—and sardines in olive oil since 1891. Its fishermen use live bait and catch their tuna one by one, using purse seine for anchovies to reduce bycatch (unintentionally caught fish).
Rooney and I prepared to eat our tins of Bonito del Norte in olive oil ($10 for a 3.9-ounce tin) with rice and bread, but it was so utterly delectable and perfectly oiled without tasting oily that we scooped its delicate flesh straight from the can and into our mouths.
Get the 4-pack of Ortiz Bonito del Norte on Amazon $26.97
7. Jose Gourmet
Jose Gourmet carries everything from octopus to sardines.
If there was an award for tinned fish packaging, Jose Gourmet would likely win. Its whimsical designs bat long eyelashes while wearing top hats and tiny colorful scarves and stare at you with wide, bulging eyes. The Portuguese company has a staggering array of products, which range in price from $7 for a Spiced Sardine Pate to $15 for 4-ounce of Spiced Calamari in Ragu. Jose Gourmet’s packaging plays into this sense of fun and discovery and its products are also reliably delicious across the board.
Get Jose Gourmet tinned seafood on Amazon starting at $7.99
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