ICES Survey Protocols - Manual for Daily Egg Production Method (DEPM) Surveys, Coordinated by ICES Working Group on Acoustic and Egg Surveys for Small Pelagic Fish in the Northeast Atlantic (WGACEGG)

This document describes the protocols used for the daily egg production method (DEPM) surveys for European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus, Linnaeus, 1758) and Atlantic sardine (Sardina pilchardus, Walbaum, 1792), which are coordinated by ICES Working Group on Acoustic and Egg Surveys for Small Pelagic Fish in the Northeast Atlantic (WGACEGG). Five DEPM surveys (two targeting anchovy and three targeting sardine) are carried out in the region between Cape Trafalgar (in the Gulf of Cadiz) and the Atlantic French waters (south of Brest). The DEPM is used to estimate the population spawning biomass for sardine and anchovy by fisheries institutes in Spain [Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) and AZTI] and Portugal [Portuguese Institute for Ocean and Atmosphere (IPMA; previously IPIMAR)].