Working Group on Southern Horse Mackerel, Anchovy and Sardine (WGHANSA)

The ICES Working Group on Southern horse mackerel, anchovy and sardine (WGHANSA) assessed the status of anchovy in Atlantic Iberian waters (ane.27.9a; western and southern components) and horse mackerel in Atlantic Iberian waters (hom.27.9a) in the May meeting and of anchovy in Bay of Biscay (ane.27.8), sardine in southern Celtic Seas and the English Channel (pil.27.7), sardine in Bay of Biscay (pil.27.8abd) and sardine in Cantabrian Sea and Atlantic Iberian waters (pil.27.8c9a) in the November meeting. In addition, to answer a special request from Portugal and Spain, in May the working group updated the assessment of sardine in Atlantic Iberian waters (pil.27.8c9a) based on the most recent data available and included as catch scenarios, the harvest control rule evaluated in the Workshop for the evaluation of the Iberian sardine harvest control rules (WKSARHCR 2021). Deviations from the stock annex caused by missing surveys and deteriorated catch data due to the Covid-19 were described and sensitivity analyses of their impact were provided whenever possible.