Report of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Sardine (Sardina pilchardus Walb.)












Table of Contents

INSTITUT SCIENTIFIQUE DES PECHES MARITIMES
Casablanca (Morocco)
13-17 December 1977

PROJECT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF FISHERIES
IN THE EASTERN CENTRAL ATLANTIC

FISHERIES COMMITTEE FOR THE EASTERN CENTRAL ATLANTIC

CECAF/ECAF SERIES/78/7(En)

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
Rome, December 1973

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The copyright in this book is vested in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, by any method or process, without written permission from the copyright holder. Applications for such permission, with a statement of the purpose and extent of the reproduction desired, should be addressed to the Director, Publications Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Via delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy.

©FAO 1979

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Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION

2. DISTRIBUTION OF THE SARDINE FISHERY

3. THE HYDROGRAPHY OF THE AREA RELEVANT TO THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE SARDINE

4. BIOLOGY OF THE SARDINE

4.1 General
4.2 Number of vertebrae
4.3 Electrophoresis studies
4.4 Growth
4.5 Length-weight relationships
4.6 Spawning
4.7 Distribution and migration
4.8 Conclusions on stock separation

5. THE FISHERIES

5.1 The Moroccan fisheries
5.2 The Spanish fisheries
5.3 Other fleets

6. CATCHES

7. STOCK ASSESSMENT

7.1 Catch and effort analysis

7.1.1 General
7.1.2 Zone A
7.1.3 Zone B
7.1.4 Zone C

7.2 Cohort analysis
7.3 Yield per recruit
7.4 Recruitment
7.5 Biomass estimates by acoustic surveys

8. DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS

9. RECOMMENDATIONS

10. POSTSCRIPT

11. REFERENCES

12. TABLES

Table 1 - Average number of vertebrae
Table 2 - Growth parameters of Sardina pilchardus
Table 3 - Catch, effort and catch per unit of effort in the fishing Zone A
Table 4 - Catch, effort and catch per unit of effort in the fishing Zone B
Table 5 - Catch, effort and catch per unit of effort in the fishing Zone C
Table 6 - Estimated annual fishing mortality rates, by age-groups in Zone A in the years 1974-1976
Table 7 - Estimated number of sardines (x 106) of each age-group in Zone A present at the beginning of the years 1974, 1975 and 1976
Table 8 - Estimated annual fishing mortality rates in Zones A, (A + B), B and C in 1976, by age-group
Table 9 - Estimated number of sardines by age-group (x 109) present at the beginning of 1976, by fishing zone
Table 10 - Average length and weight of sardine in the first trimester of 1977, by age
Table 11 - Estimates of total sardine biomass obtained from an acoustic survey and from cohort analysis, and of the exploited sardine biomass from data on catch and fishing mortality rate

13. FIGURES

Figure 1 - Main fishing areas of the sardine fishery
Figure 2 - Relation between effort and catch per unit of effort (Gulland model R, Fox model R1) and the corresponding yield curves (Y and Y1, respectively) for the sardine fishery in Zone A. Effort calculated as described in the text.
Figure 3 - Relation between effort and catch per unit of effort (Gulland model R, Fox model R1) and the corresponding yield curves (Y and Y1, respectively) for the sardine fishery in Zone C. Effort calculated as described in the text.

14. ANNEXES

Annex I - Agenda
Annex II - List of participants
Annex III

Table 1 - Nominal catches of Sardina pilchardus in Northern Sector of CECAF.Divisions (34.1.1, 34.1.2, 34.1.3, 34.3.1)
Table 2 - Nominal catches of Sardina pilchardus in Northern Sector of CECAF.Division (34.1.1)
Table 3 - Nominal catches of Sardina pilchardus in Northern Sector of CECAF.Division (34.1.2)
Table 4 - Nominal catches of Sardina pilchardus in Northern Sector of CECAF.Division (34.1.3)
Table 5 - Nominal catches of Sardina pilchardus in Northern Sector of CECAF.Division (34.3.1)
Table 6 - Sardina pilchardus in CECAF area (Divisions 34.1.1, 34.1.2, 34.1.3) Total catch in the different fishing zones (tons)

Annex IV

Table 1 - Catch of S. pilchardus by the Moroccan fleet in Zone A, expressed in numbers (x 103) of each age-group by three-monthly periods, from the third trimester in 1973 up to the third trimester in 1977
Table 2 - Catch of S. pilchardus by the Spanish fleet in Zone B, expressed in numbers (x 103) of each age-group by three-monthly periods, from the third trimester of 1975 up to the first trimester in 1977
Table 3 - Total annual catch of S. pilchardus in Zone C expressed in numbers (x 103) by year-class