The use of fish scale deposit records to inform on South African sardine and anchovy recruitment patterns

The ERA review during 2009 highlighted the following issue as of “high” priority: “Improved representation of statistical properties of sardine recruitment variation, particularly over periods with abundance peaks.” A review of work on fossil fish scale deposits, particularly those in Namibia, was requested by the SWGPEL in November 2009, to determine if information on recruitment variation of sardine (and anchovy) could be extracted, and how frequently peaks in sardine abundance might be expected to occur in South African waters