La valutazione degli stock dei piccoli pelagici in Adriatico: l'approccio acustico

The state of small pelagic resources in the Adriatic Sea has been studied by means of acoustic methodology since the 70's. Recently, annual acoustic surveys are being conducted in all the main areas of distribution of these stocks in the Mediterranean Sea, in the framework of EC Data Collection Regulation, according to a common protocol in the ambit of EU MEDIAS (Pan-Mediterranean Acoustic Surveys) project. The aim is to obtain comparable results to allow to the decision makers on fishery resource management to gain a sustainable harvest of the resources. CNR-ISMAR of Ancona is conducting acoustic surveys in the western side of Northern and Middle Adriatic - FAO GSA 17 (Slovenian waters included) and in the whole Southern Adriatic - GSA 18 in cooperation with the local research institutes of Slovenia, Montenegro and Albania, in the framework of FAO AdriaMed project. The eastern side of GSA 17 is covered by IOF institute of Split (Croatia), since 2013 part of the MEDIAS project, so that the whole Adriatic Sea is studied with this methodology. The results show the typical fluctuations in time and space of small pelagic fish species, in particular of anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) and sardine (Sardina pilchardus) and their spatial distribution in the study areas in North, Medium and Southern Adriatic Sea.