Resilience of Key Biological Parameters of the Senegalese Flat Sardinella to Overfishing and Climate Change

The stock of the Senegalese flat sardinella, Sardinella maderensis, is highly exploited in Senegal, West Africa. Its growth and reproduction parameters are key biological indicators for improving fisheries management. This study reviewed these parameters using landing data from small-scale fisheries in Senegal and literature information dated back more than 25 years. Age was estimated using length-frequency data to calculate growth parameters and assess the growth performance index. With global climate change there has been an increase in the average sea surface temperature along the Senegalese coast but the length-weight parameters, sex ratio, size at first sexual maturity, period of reproduction and condition factor of S. maderensis have not changed significantly. The above parameters of S. maderensis have hardly changed, despite high exploitation and fluctuations in environmental conditions that affect the early development phases of small pelagic fish in West Africa. This lack of plasticity of the species regarding of the biological parameters studied should be considered when planning relevant fishery management plans.

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S1 Fig. Wetherall [28] plot of Sardinella maderensis, leading to an estimate of L∞ = 33.40 cm.
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S2 Fig. K-scan routine for the size-frequency data of Sardinella maderensis in ELEFAN (Daniel Pauly, unpublish).
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S3 Fig. Seasonalized von Bertalanffy growth curve (with L∞ = 33.9 cm, K = 0.4 year-1, C = 1 year-1, WP = 0.15 and Rn = 0.21) of Sardinella maderensis off the northern coast superimposed over the...
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S4 Fig. Seasonalized von Bertalanffy growth curve (with L∞ = 32.1 cm, K = 0.38 year-1, C = 1 year-1, WP = 0.15 and Rn = 0.21) of Sardinella maderensis off the southern coast superimposed over the...
1223 Ko
How to cite
Ba Kamarel, Thiaw Modou, Lazar Najih, Sarr Alassane, Brochier Timothee, Ndiaye Ismaila, Faye Alioune, Sadio Oumar, Panfili Jacques, Thiaw Omar Thiom, Brehmer Patrice (2016). Resilience of Key Biological Parameters of the Senegalese Flat Sardinella to Overfishing and Climate Change. Plos One. 11 (6). e0156143 (20p.). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156143, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00616/72851/

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