Socioeconomics and Management

Links between parasitism, energy reserves and fecundity of European anchovy,Engraulis encrasicolus, in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea

“…There is, to our knowledge, only one other study concerning the European anchovy, carried out in the Black Sea, which has looked into the effects of parasites (in this case, nematodes) on the lipid composition of the European anchovy ( Shchepkina, 1985 ). Nevertheless, given that there are a number of well-known cases of collapse in anchovy fisheries and considering the social and economic upheaval such collapses can cause ( Pita et al , 2014 ), the health of anchovy stocks is well worth studying.…”

Lessons learnt on the management of short-lived fish from the Bay of Biscay anchovy case study: Satisfying fishery needs and sustainability under recruitment uncertainty

“…Spain is the main importer of fresh anchovies in Europe [84]. As such, this is a valuable resource of rather high price per landed kg, about 2 €/kg [95], compared to other SPF around the world subject to reduction fisheries [81]. The decrease of catches between the sixties and the mid-eighties (with occasional sharp decreases, as in 1968-70, 1980-82 or 1984-86 (Fig.…”

“…The Spanish fleet consists of purse seiners, while French boats are mostly pair trawlers, along a few French purse seiners. The anchovy fishery closure put in troubles to the national fleets [4,44,95,103,116,133]. Before the closure of the fishery, about 200 Spanish purse seiners operated in the anchovy fishery [134]; however, since the reopening in 2010, the boats with fishing licenses have been reduced to about 150-175 [65].…”

“…The fluctuations in abundance, coupled with the shoaling behavior of the species, makes them highly vulnerable to fishing, particularly at low stock sizes, increasing the risk of overfishing and depletion [37,77,93,96]. For these reasons, the history of management of these populations shows several examples of collapses [91,94,95], including among others the Peruvian anchoveta [6,87], the Pacific sardine [50,101], and the North Sea herring [32]. Management of SPF needs therefore to be adaptative to the fluctuations in productivity and abundance of these resources to minimize the risks of collapses [7,8,110].…”

“…The management of fishery of the Bay of Biscay anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) exemplifies a continuous effort to optimize the direct monitoring system (on adults and recruits), the advice and the management framework to achieve and efficient and timely use of the survey estimates for an improved management. This process led to the formulation of a management plan incorporating both biological and economic considerations, with the active participation of stakeholders, when the fishery was challenged with a stock collapse between 2005 and 2009 [4,91,95].…”