The DEPM Estimation of Spawning-Stock Biomass for Sardine and Anchovy

Lasker (1985) provides the first and most thorough re-port on the use of the Daily Egg Production Method (DEPM) for the estimation of the spawning biomass of small pelagic fish stocks. An update to this report is provided by Anonymous (1997), a compilation of research papers resulting from an EU concerted action on DEPM techniques. The present Cooperative Research Report is intended to complement to the above publications, reviewing the use of the method for sardine and anchovy in European waters and describing very recent developments in specific areas of DEPM sampling and estimation. Its contents are predominantly drawn from the most recent report of the ICES Study Group on the Estimation of Sardine and Anchovy Spawning Biomass (SGSBSA) that met in Malaga (Spain) during the summer of 2003 (ICES, 2003b). In addition, it includes sections from the first SGSBSA report that resulted from a meeting in Lisbon (Portugal) during the autumn of 2001 (ICES, 2002).