Relationship between anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) recruits and anchovy spawners estimated from acoustic surveys in Northwestern Mediterranean Sea

In this study we present the abundance and biomass of European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) estimated by acoustic methods in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea (GSA06). during two different seasons, winter, the anchovy recruitment season and summer, when the majority of the anchovy stock belongs to the spawner fraction of one year-old. Four standardized acoustic surveys carried out covering the study area during two consecutive years (every six months), two of them during the peak of anchovy recruitment and the other two during the peak of anchovy spawn, allow to observe changes in the anchovy stock abundance and biomass in this area. Acoustic data from summer and winter echo-surveys were analyzed in an effort to better understand the life cycle of anchovy in relation to the survival during its first year of life.