Bali sardinella is a coastal small pelagic, schooling, strongly migratory species that inhabit tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific region (Whitehead 1985). Bali sardinella, Sardinella lemuru, was previously reported as S. longiceps in the Philippines (PSA 2019);(Williams and Willette 2011). The stock structure for Bali sardinella in the Philippines is unknown. This profile covers the Bali sardinella fishery in the Philippines Fishery Management Area 4 (FMA - 4), covering the waters in the South Negros region.  FMAs were established in January 2019 (Fisheries Administrative Order 263) to focus on the ecosystem approach to fisheries management. FMA - 4 covers the waters off southern Panay and Negros islands east of Sulu Sea, and the southern Sulu Sea to include several bays in the Zamboanga Peninsula, and the Basilan Strait, Moro Gulf,  and Tawi-tawi Bay in BARMM  (see FMA 4 Map and Profile).

In the Philippine Statistics Authority or PSA, production volume is reported as Bali sardinella  (tamban)  (see OpenSTAT).  The local name "tamban", however, is applied to Bali sardinella S. lemuru and at least 8 other sardine species: to include five Sardinella spp.  (e.g.,   White sardinella,  S.albella;  Fringescale sardinella  S. fimbriata; Goldstripe sardinella,   S. gibbosa;  Taiwan sardinella,  S. hualiensis, and Blacktip sardinella, S. melanura) and  three Amblygaster spp.  (e.g., Bleeker smoothbelly sardinella,   A. clupeoides;  Smoothbelly sardinella,   A. leiogaster, Spotted sardinella,  A. sirm)   (see FishBase (Froese and Pauly 2021);  (Williams and Willette 2011).   Other local names for this species are "tunsoy" (Williams and Willette 2011) or "tuloy" (De Guzman 2017). In NSAP’s The Philippine Capture Fisheries Atlas several clupeid sardines share common names but are presented separately in areas where stock assessments occur (e.g., (Barut et al. 2017).  Catch landing data of both species, however, are aggregated with other species under the “small pelagics” group (Santos et al. 2017).