Figure 4 illustrates the distribution of all fish as observed with the acoustic integration system. This will mainly show the pelagic species, but some demersal fish which lifts off the bottom mostly at night will also be included.
Nicaragua.
As during the previous surveys the fish distribution in Nicaragua consists of two main components, a nearshore belt of fish with pockets of higher aggregations, and a offshore band of low density registrations close to the shelf edge. The intermediate zone between 60 and 150m bottom depth is almost absent from fish registrations. The main components of the nearshore registrations were anchovies and thread herring, together with various carangids, Spanish mackerel, barracudas and some demersal fish. The offshore registrations are mostly made from the fish silver smelt. Argentina. The langostino which gives high catches at the slope is not registrated by the acoustic instruments, and is thus not represented in Figure 4.
Golfo de Fonseca.
In contrast to the previous survey high concentrations of pelagic fish were made in the south-eastern part the area surveyed. These registrations were mostly made from anchovies.
El Salvador.
As in Nicaragua the aggregations of pelagic fish is mainly in the nearshore areas, shown in Figure 4. Fairly good concentrations were located in several areas. They consisted of thread herrings and anchovies and their predators, especially barracudas, but also big carangids, Spanish mackerel, sharks and rays. Recordings of fish offshore were few. A patch located in the southeastern pert of the shelf is made mainly from silver smelt.
