''Ethmalosa fimbriata'', the bonga shad or just bonga, is a
shad, a
clupeid
Clupeidae is a family of ray-finned fishes, comprising, for instance, the herrings, shads, sardines, hilsa, and menhadens. The clupeoids include many of the most important food fishes in the world, and are also commonly caught for production of ...
fish, that occurs along the coasts and in brackish water of coastal lagoons, rivers and lakes of western
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
from
Dakhla in
Western Sahara
Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...
to
Lobito
Lobito is a Municipalities of Angola, municipality in Angola. It is located in Benguela Province, on the Atlantic Coast north of the Catumbela Estuary. The Lobito municipality had a population of 393,079 in 2014.
History
The city was founded in ...
in
Angola
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, religion_year = 2020
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. It is usually around 25 cm long but the maximum length is 45 cm. It is the
only member of its
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
.
Fishery
Bonga is caught by inshore small-scale fisheries using seine fishing from a boat or by beach seine. It may also be caught by gill net.
Use in fish meal
Bonga is also used to make fish meal, a powder which is exported around the world and used to feed farmed fish in places like Norway and China. The practice is controversial in countries like Gambia, where environmentalists say over-fishing of Bonga for fish meal is raising prices for locals. Refuse from fish meal plants has also been linked to environmental damage.
Food
Bonga is very important in West African coastal and lagoon fishing communities and it is an important food source in West and Central Africa.
It is usually smoke-dried for 2 to 5 days, depending on size and on the market.
Smoke-drying is done over a fire. The fish is placed on sticks, bars or wire mesh trays about 1 m from the floor. A fire is lit on the floor and the fish is first cooked over a high fire, then the fire is reduced to a smoldering fire which is kept going for as long as necessary. Smoking "ovens" can be open without walls or closed with walls either in the outside air or inside a smoke house. A hard-smoked bonga can be kept for several months in ambient conditions.
Smoke-drying of fish is essentially a drying process to preserve the product in the absence of refrigeration. It is different from fish smoking as it is known in Europe, USA, Canada, etc., where it is applied to impart taste, such as smoked salmon (cold smoked) or smoked eel (hot smoked) which must be stored under refrigeration.
See also
*
List of smoked foods
References
*
Alosinae
Fish of Africa
Taxa named by Sarah Bowdich Lee
Fish described in 1825
Smoked fish
{{Clupeiformes-stub