Sprat

The European sprat, also known as the Baltic herring, brisling, brisling sardine, bristling, garvie, garvock, Russian sardine, russlet, skipper or whitebait, is a species of small marine fish in the herring family Clupeidae. It is found in European, West Asian and North African waters.

Sprats are versatile and can be canned, smoked, marinated, salted, breaded, fried, grilled, baked, or eaten fresh. Smoked canned sprats are especially popular around the Baltic and in Scandinavia and Russia. Young sprats are also fried whole as whitebait.

The European sprat lives in the northeast Atlantic, including the Baltic, North Sea, the coasts of the British Isles and Iberia, Morocco, the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, and the Black Sea. It schools in coastal and open water and is mostly caught by trawl.