The present meeting was the first regular meeting of the new FAO working group on small pelagic fish in northwest Africa. It is intended that this group will meet annually for at least 5 years, and by doing so will build a reliable data base and increase the expertise within the group. This will enable the group to make sound recommendations for the management of pelagic fish stocks in the area.
During this year's meeting the emphasis was on improving the data base and on developing working procedures within the group. Building on the results of two preliminary meetings in 2000 (Casablanca and Tenerife), the group constructed data series on catch, effort and biological data for all species in the area. It was found that there is a strong need for (better) age data for the various species. Plans were formulated to increase biological sampling for age, and to standardise age reading between different countries.
Because of the emphasis on data base improvement, less time was available for assessment. A number of preliminary assessments for various species did not produce reliable results, due to the lack of sufficient input data, and to problems in using the existing models. During future meetings, this aspect of the work will require more attention. It was also concluded that the most recent catch and effort data are required for stock assessments. During the next meeting, participants will therefore attempt to bring such data for the most recent year.
An important input for stock assessment is series of abundance indices. One type of abundance index is catches per unit of effort. Several series of CPUE data exist, and some of the existing series may be further refined by a more thorough exploration of existing data. In some cases (particularly in industrial fisheries), CPUE series are affected by changes in fishing strategy of the fleet. It is necessary, therefore, to have fishery independent series of stock abundance as well. In recent years, acoustic surveys by Norwegian and Russian research vessels have provided an important contribution in this respect. The group strongly recommends that these surveys be continued, and that local institutes increase their own capacity to conduct acoustic surveys.
The existing acoustic data series show that the main stocks have shown strong fluctuations during the last 9 years (particularly sardine and sardinella), but it is difficult to detect a long-term trend. On the other hand, CPUE data for horse mackerel and sardinella generally show a declining trend over the last few years. Although the group is not yet in a position to make detailed stock projections, it is expected that stocks will decline further in case of an expansion of the (industrial) fishing effort in the area. As a general recommendation the group therefore suggests to adopt a precautionary approach, and not to increase the combined catch of small pelagic species above the average level attained during the most recent 5 years (1995-1999).
