Image: Revista Puerto / FIS

Buenos Aires Anchovy: A Healthy Fishery with No Significant Discards

ARGENTINA
Thursday, July 18, 2024, 01:00 (GMT + 9)

INIDEP presented the population dynamics between 1990 and 2023, recommending maintaining 120 thousand tons as the maximum allowable catch. The freshwater and coastal fleets account for 90% of the discharges.

INIDEP scientists presented a study of the population dynamics of the Buenos Aires anchovy between 1990 and 2023, and set recommendations for the maximum allowable catch for 2024 in a fishery that they consider “healthy” and with few discards in the last two years.

Source: Revista Puerto

Technical Report 22/24, prepared by Paula Orlando, Claudio Buratti, David Garciarena, Germán Buratti, Manuela Parietti and Cecilia Spath, from the Fish Fisheries Directorate within the Pelagic Fish Fisheries Program area, states that in Argentina two stocks of anchovy, separated from each other at 41º South.

The Buenos Aires stock, located between the parallels of 34º and 41º South, has historically been the most exploited, although in recent years discharges from Patagonia have grown.

Source: INIDEP. Clic here to access the document --->

Landings of Buenos Aires anchovy reached 5,400 tons last year. Fishing activity was developed in three main areas: north of Mar del Plata, east and south of Necochea.

Coastal vessels contributed 56% of the landings, while deep-sea freshwater vessels accounted for 34% and the artisanal and roadstead/estuary fleet the remaining 10%. The catch is destined to supply canning and salting plants, and is obtained by using a mid-water trawl net.

“The fishing season began in July with modest catches, which increased as the year progressed, and ended in the month of November,” the researchers state. 77% of the captures occurred in the third quarter of the year and 22% in the second quarter.

As indices, INIDEP researchers used direct estimates of biomass, which were obtained in 13 research campaigns, developed in the months of greatest reproductive activity (October-November) of the years 1993-1996; 1999; 2001-2004; 2006; 2008; 2019 and 2021.

They also added estimates of total biomass of age groups 1 to 6+ evaluated by the hydroacoustic method and spawning stock biomass estimated by the daily egg production method.

Source: INIDEP.. Clic on the image to enlarge it

“In spring, when its main reproductive activity takes place, estimates of the total biomass of the stock reached between 1 and 5 million tons (2 million on average) while the abundance of reproducers would have varied between 0.78 and 3.66 million tons (average 1.6 million tons),” the authors stated.

“There was an adjustment of the statistical model to the total returns, which are surely the observations with the greatest certainty about the fishery since studies on discarding are scarce,” the Report reveals.

Based on the results obtained from the contribution of the INIDEP Fisheries Research Assistants on board fresh fishing vessels that fished anchovy in 2022 and 2023, it was found that the discarding of the species was low, 5% and 3% respectively.

<-- Anchovy, Engraulis anchoita. (Photo: Inidep)

Between 1990 and 2023, the average yields of Buenos Aires anchovy were approximately 17 thousand tons and represented a minimal fraction of the available abundance estimates.

The anchovy from the northern or Buenos Aires stock constitutes a resource with a high exploitation potential. However, given the important ecological role it plays in the food web of the region, a gradual development in its exploitation is suggested in case of greater development of fishing activity.

“The anchovy population north of the parallel of 41º South should be considered healthy, but there are reasons that lead to maintaining a precautionary criterion and, therefore, recommending that the figure of 120 thousand tons be maintained for the year 2024 as the maximum catch allowed for this resource,” they concluded.

Source: Revista Puerto  (Translated from the original in Spanish)

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