Anchovies are among the largest fish catch worldwide. The anchovy fillet industry generates a huge amount of biowaste (e.g., fish heads, bones, tails) that can be used for the extraction of several potentially valuable bioproducts including omega-3 lipids. Following the extraction of valued fish oil rich in omega-3, vitamin D3 and zeaxanthin from anchovy fillet leftovers using biobased limonene in a fully circular process, the solid residue (anchovy sludge) was used as starting substrate for the production of biogas by anaerobic digestion. In spite of the unbalanced carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio, typical of marine biowaste, the anchovy sludge showed a good methane yield (about 280 mLCH4?gVS), proving to be an ideal substrate for co-digestion along with other carbon rich wastes and residues. Furthermore, the presence of residual limonene, used as a renewable, nottoxic and edible extraction solvent, does not affect the microbial methanogenesis. The results reported in this study demonstrate that anchovy leftovers after the fish oil extraction process can be efficiently used as a starting co-substrate for the production of biogas in a modern biorefinery.

Aiming to identify and assess the amount of fat-soluble vitamins in anchovy oil extracted with d-limonene from anchovy fillet leftovers via the UHPLC-HESI-MS advanced mass spectrometry analytical technique, this study shows that only vitamin D is present in anchovy by-product oil. The sum of the quantities of the three isomers of vitamin D amounts to 0.0815 ?g vitamin D per g oil, namely a 81.5 ?g/kg content, in good agreement with the typical amounts of vitamin D in fish oils (ranging from 18 to 350 ?g/kg).

We report the presence of microplastics on the external surface and in the gastrointestinal tract of white latelarval and juvenile stages (fry) of clupeid fishes caught in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. The average highest number of plastics debris was recorded on Sardina pilchardus (0.53 items/specimen): a lower average number of items was observed for Engraulis encrasicolus (026 items/specimen). The plastics were characterized by fibers that differed in shape, colour and composition. Polyester, polypropylene, polyaa ylonitrile. polyethylene, polyamide, nylon, rayon and polyurethane segments were detected by Raman and MR spectroscopies. Traces of organic components and dyes, compounds that are generally included in the polymer matrix to modify its base properties, were also identified on miaoplastics. Our results raise concerns for the potential transfer of synthetic materials through the marine food web and into humans, given the prominent role of S. pilchardus and E. encrasicolus within the food web as main food source for many marine species. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fish oil rich in polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids is extracted in high yield from anchovy filleting waste using d-limonene as green biosolvent in a simple solid-liquid extraction performed by mechanically stirring and maceration followed by limonene removal via evaporation under reduced pressure. As limonene is renewably obtained from waste orange peel, this method closes the materials cycle and establishes a circular economy process to obtain high quality fish oil from biowaste available worldwide in several million t/year amount. Significant economic, social and environmental benefits are anticipated.

EWG 18-01 was asked to develop and assess a biomass escapement harvest control rule (HCR) for anchovy and sardine in the Adriatic Sea (GSA 17-18) that would ensure a low probability of SSB to fall below Blim. STECF reviewed the report of EWG 18-01 and notes that the EWG adequately addressed the ToRs. STECF acknowledges the extensive work undertaken by the working group.

Fishery production is highly dependent on fish growth and therefore environmental factors; primary production and temperature are the two most important variables affecting almost all biological rates, especially individual growth or population production rate. The growth of European anchovy, Engraulis encrasicolus, was compared between two populations inhabiting different ecosystems: the Tyrrhenian Sea, characterised by riverine inputs, and the Strait of Sicily, an oligotrophic area. The effects of habitat conditions on growth was also evaluated using literature data on other of European anchovy populations. Water temperature was confirmed to be a determinant factor for anchovy growth at the species level positively affecting the length at age-1. On the contrary, a negative relationship was found between chlorophyll a and the length at age-1. These findings suggested that size at age-1 is strongly dependent upon habitat conditions. The age structure differed significantly between the two populations, with the Tyrrhenian stock dominated by age-1 fish.

Small pelagic fish are among the most ecologically and economically important marine fish species and are characterized by large fluctuations all over the world. In the Mediterranean Sea, low catches and biomass of anchovies and sardines have been described in some areas during the last decade, resulting in important fisheries crises. Therefore, we studied anchovy and sardine body condition variability, a key index of population health and its response to environmental and anthropogenic changes. Wide temporal and spatial patterns were investigated by analyzing separately data from scientific surveys and fisheries in eight Mediterranean areas between 1975 and 2015. Results showed that anchovy and sardine body condition as well as maximum size in some areas sharply decreased in most Mediterranean areas along years (except in the Northern Alboran Sea). Despite this general pattern, well-marked environmental differences between sub-regions were highlighted by several analyses and variations in body condition were not found to be homogeneous over all the Mediterranean Sea. Further, other analyses revealed that except for the Adriatic where major changes towards a lower body condition were concomitant with a decrease in river runoffs and chl-a concentration, no concomitant environmental regime shift was detected in other areas. Together, these analyses highlighted the current poor body condition of almost all small pelagic fish populations in the Mediterranean. Yet, global environmental indices could not explain the observed changes and the general decrease in condition might more likely come from regional environmental and/or anthropogenic (fishing) effects. A prolonged state of poor fish body condition, together with an observed reduced size and early age-at-maturity may have strong ecological, economic and social consequences all around the Mediterranean Sea.

An alternative method to the traditional hydrated oocyte (HO) method has been evaluated for the Sicilian anchovy, Engraulis encrasicolus. The method is based on the processing of ovarian whole mount images and the identification of the spawning batch in oocyte size frequency distributions and shows the advantage that it can be applied to various oocyte stages rather than strictly to the HO stage. Despite the peculiar elliptical shape of anchovy oocytes, this image analysis technique was fully successful since the yolked stage appeared to perform equally to the HO stage for anchovy batch fecundity measurements.

The sustained exploitation of marine populations requires an understanding of a species' adaptive seascape so that populations can track environmental changes from short-and long-term climate cycles and from human development. The analysis of the distributions of genetic markers among populations, together with correlates of life-history and environmental variability, can provide insights into the extent of adaptive variation. Here, we examined genetic variability among populations of mature European anchovies (n = 531) in the Adriatic (13 samples) and Tyrrhenian seas (2 samples) with neutral and putative non-neutral microsatellite loci. These genetic markers failed to confirm the occurrence of two anchovy species in the Adriatic Sea, as previously postulated. However, we found fine-scale population structure in the Adriatic, especially in northern areas, that was associated with four of the 13 environmental variables tested. Geographic gradients in sea temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen appear to drive adaptive differences in spawning time and early larval development among populations. Resolving adaptive seascapes in Adriatic anchovies provides a means to understand mechanisms underpinning local adaptation and a basis for optimizing exploitation strategies for sustainable harvests.

Information on the breeding behaviour of fish such as spatial segregation phenomena during spawning events is important both for understanding their reproductive ecology but also for correctly designing sampling schemes in stock assessment. The daily spawning pattern of the European anchovy, Engraulis encrasicolus, was assessed using a novel methodology that included the analysis of the hourly distribution of imminent and recent spawning stages using a combination of generalised additive models (GAMs) and of multinomial models for ordinal categorical data. To do so we used data from nine years of daily egg production method, DEPM, surveys, carried out in the Strait of Sicily. The spatial distribution and occurrence of actively spawning individuals were also analysed. Results showed that the actively spawning phase period (ASPP), i.e., the period from the onset of oocyte hydration to spawning ranged approximately 4.5. h between ca. 18:30 and 23:00 while a daily spawning peak was identified at 22:30. The sex ratio was skewed during the ASPP such that females exceeded males by ca. 20% at mid ASPP. During the ASPP the proportion of Day-0 females (i.e., females that spawned or would spawn the day of sampling) decreases with increasing bottom depth while outside the ASPP Day-0 spawners did not show any particular bathymetric pattern. In the study area, anchovies exhibit segregative spawning behaviour which drives spawners to select shallower waters, similar to other anchovy populations in the Mediterranean while in the Atlantic and in other clupeoid populations the opposite bathymetric trend has been observed.

Workshop on micro increment daily growth in European Anchovy and Sardine

European anchovy egg occurrence and density data from summer surveys (1998-2007) and oceanographic data were examined to study the mechanisms that control the spatial distribution of anchovy spawning habitat in the Strait of Sicily. Quotient analysis indicated habitat preference for temperature (18-19°C), bottom depth (50-100 m), water column stability (13 -14 cycle h1), fluorescence (0.10-0.15 lg m3 Chl a), salinity (37.5-37.6 PSU), current speed (0.20-0.25 m s1) and density (26.7-26.8 kg m3, rt). Canonical discriminant analysis identified temperature, column stability and fluorescence as major drivers of anchovy spawning habitat. Three of the 4 years which had lower egg abundance were warmer years, with low values of primary productivity. A geostrophic current flowing through the Strait (the Atlantic Ionic Stream, AIS) was confirmed as the main source of environmental variability in structuring the anchovy spawning ground by its influence on both the oceanography and distribution of anchovy eggs. This 10-yr data series demonstrates recurrent but also variable patterns of oceanographic flows and egg distribution. A lack of freshwater flow in this area appears to depress productivity in the region, but certain and variable combinations of environmental conditions can elevate production in some sub-areas in most years or other sub-areas in fewer years. These temporal and spatial patterns are consistent with an ocean triad theory postulating that processes of oceanographic enrichment, concentration, and retention may help predict fishery yields.

Recruitment of anchovy and sardine in the Adriatic Sea in relation to environmental factors

Ontogenetic variation in the diet of Engraulis encrasicolus (L.) was examined in the northern Adriatic Sea, off the River Po delta, by stomach contents analysis. Anchovy (10 to 130 mm total length) were collected during a 1 wk cruise in October 2002. Feeding activity was mainly diurnal in all the length classes: stomach fullness, calculated for each 10 mm size class, was always higher during the day than at night, with maximal values measured for the 40 to 49 and 50 to 59 mm. size classes. All analysed life stages of E. encrasicolus had a strictly zooplanktivorous diet based on a few species of copepods. The principal prey of E. encrasicolus were small-sized copepods, measuring about 0.2 to 0.3 or 0.5 to 0.6 mm in prosoma length. The copepods Euterpina acutifrons and Oncaea spp. dominated anchovy diet during the day, both in terms of frequency, number and biomass, in all anchovy size classes. During the night, bivalve larvae were also important dietary items, with Oncaea spp. and E. acutifrons making up >69% of total prey number for all anchovy size classes. Within the considered size range, the dimensions of particles does not seem to be a limiting factor in food selection, and no relationship was found between anchovy length and the maximal dimension of ingested prey. Ivlev's electivity index confirmed that European anchovy was able to select specific food items and preferred small copepods such as E. acutifrons and Oncaea spp., and bivalve and decapod larvae.