Abstract: Population structure, age and growth of sardine from the Eastern Black sea coasts of Turkey were examined. A total of 684 Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum, 1792) were sampled between September 2009 and April 2010 from commercial purse-seine fleet operating along coasts of Rize. Total lengths of sardine were ranged between 11.0-17.9 cm and the weights ranged from 10.20-53.64 g regardless the sex. The sex ratio (♂/♀) was found to be 1.14 in favor of males. In ageing, 3 classes (1-3 years) were determined from 86 sardine otoliths. Growth performance of sardine in the Black sea was lower than the other seas.