ANCHOVY FISHERIES IN THE ADRIATIC SEA

Anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus, L.) is one the most important commerc ial species of the Adriatic Sea. With a surface area of 138,000 km2, a bout one twentieth of the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea produced about 13,000 tonnes of anchovy in 1991, equal to 19% of the Mediterra nean anchovy catches. The value of Adriatic anchovy catches has been e stimated at about 15.6 MECU in 1991. Adriatic anchovy catches were ver y high in the late seventies (53,000 tonnes, average 1978-1980), then they decreased in the following years, until they collapsed in 1987. D uring this year, with a fishing effort similar to previous years, catc hes were only 3,700 tonnes. In successive years, stock recovered parti ally and anchovy catches increased to 10,000-15,000 tonnes. Anchovy is caught by Italian fishermen using two kind of fishing gears: midwater pair trawls (Italian name is volante) and purse seines (Italian name is lampara). The same fishing gears also catch sar dines (Sardina pilc hardus, Walb.). The volante is mainly used in the northern and central Adriatic. At present about 70 couples of fishing vessels use this gea r, their average engine power is 400 HP, average size of the vessels i s 50 GRT. The lampara vessels operating in the Adriatic Sea number abo ut 40 and they are concentrated, mainly, in the southern part of the A driatic Sea. The lampara vessels, generally, have a bigger size than v olante vessels (average of GRT is 85), bur they have lower engine powe r (average of HP is 300). Since 1975, IRPEM has carried out a research programme on stock assessment of Engraulis encrasicolus (L.) and Sard ina pilchardus (Walb.) in the Adriatic Sea, using population dynamic m odels. IRPEM collects catches by species (anchovy and sardine), effort data, fishing fleet characteristics and length frequency data. Stock assessments and biomass estimations of anchovy have been carried out i n the last twenty years using direct methods as echosurveys and ichthy oplankton surveys as well as indirect (catch and effort and VPA) metho ds. Anchovies biomass is estimated around 50,000 tonnes in the years 1 990-1992. In recent years anchovy catches are about the 30% of estimat ed biomass. The exploitable stock size each year seems determined in t he main by the size of the recruitment in the two immediately precedin g years rather than by the prevailing levels of fishing effort.