Report of the FAO Working Group on the Assessment of Small pelagic Fish off Northwest Africa. Dakar, Senegal, 21-25 May 2012/Rapport du Groupe de travail FAO/COPACE sur l’évaluation des petits pélagiques au large de l’Afrique nord-occidentale. Dakar, Senegal, 21-25 mai 2012

The twelfth meeting of the FAO Working Group on the Assessment of Small Pelagic Fish off Northwest Africa was held in Dakar, Senegal from 21 to 25 May 2012. Total catch of small pelagic fish for the period 1990 to 2011 has been fluctuating with an average of around 1.8 million tonnes, with an overall general increasing trend since 1994. Although important changes were observed in the abundance and exploitation level for some of the stocks, the overall general situation with respect to the state of the different stocks was found to be similar to the results of the 2011 Working Group, with the exception of the Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) which this year was considered overexploited. The Cunene horse mackerel (Trachurus trecae) showed some improvement and is considered fully exploited. The Small Pelagic Working Group recommends a decrease in catch and effort on the horse mackerels stocks to ensure sustainable harvesting of these stocks. The catches of round sardinella (Sardinella aurita) are high for the last three years. The Working Group continues to be concerned about this stock and considers it is overexploited. The sardine stock in Zone A+B is still considered overexploited and the Working Group therefore maintains its recommendation from the previous years that the catch should not exceed 400 000 tonnes. Sardine (Sardina pilchardus) in Zone C is not fully exploited. However, the stock structure and abundance should be closely monitored by fishery independent methods, and care must be taken in the management of sardine in Zone C. Chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus) and anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) were both considered fully exploited. In the case of anchovy the Working Group recommends that effort should not exceed current levels whereas for mackerel it was recommended that catches should not exceed 250 000 tonnes. Previous assessments have considered bonga (Ethmalosa fimbriata) as a single stock at the subregional level. However, recent changes in the exploitation of this species in Mauritania with the subsequent large catches make it difficult to assess this species at the subregional level and the group, on a trial basis, proceeded to carry out two separate assessment; Unit North–Northern Mauritania and Unit South-Senegal/The Gambia respectively. The Working Group recommends that effort should not exceed current levels for the northern unit and to decrease the effort on the southern unit