have been increasing and the stock probably recovered to 

 more normal levels of abundance in 1978. Under existing 

 California management council, the council saw little danger 

 of depleting the stock. However, an independent and un- 

 regulated fishery in Mexico was considered cause for concern 

 by the council. 



History : The U.S. fishery developed in the 1950s as a 

 substitute for the collapsed sardine fishery. Since 1965 

 permits have been issued for catch of anchovies to be pro- 

 cessed for fish meal and oil. This is called the reduction 

 fishery and has been the largest component of the commercial 

 fishery. Catches for live bait have been a much smaller com- 

 ponent of the commercial fishery. There has been some recrea- 

 tional anchovy catch as well. Recent harvest quotas have 

 ranged between 110,000 and 165,000 tons. In 1975 California 

 anchovy landings were 158,511 tons. 



Present exploitation : Commercial fisheries in southern 

 California for pelagic schooling fish use various round haul 

 gear, typically purse seines and lampara nets. The major 

 species in the fishery have been northern anchovy, jack mack- 

 erel, bonito , blue fin tuna and market squid, and to a 

 smaller degree, Pacific mackerel and other incidental species. 

 An integrated set of management plans covering all of these 

 species was identified in the plan as a long term goal. Ancho- 

 vy harvest in 1977 was on the order of 200,000 tons by Mexican 

 and U.S. fisheries combined. 



OY considerations : Economic and social considerations 

 for determining OY included the economic contribution of 

 the fisheries to the nation, the anti-reduction fishery 

 sentiment among marine anglers, and the per ton value of the 

 live bait catch. Biological considerations included support 

 of abundant predator populations. 



Acceptable Biological Catch involved two considerations, 

 the desirability of maintaining a large enough population 

 to minimize the risks of natural fluctuations in recruitment, 

 and the need to account for the sex ratio of the commercial 

 catch which averaged 1.73:1 females to males. 



The plan commented that increased exploitation would re- 

 duce available supply of anchovies as forage for predator spe- 

 cies of fish, birds and mammals, with the greatest impact at 

 the centers of the fishery. The OY formula was designed to 

 reduce exploitation impact when the biomass is low and to pro- 

 tect the long term productivity of the resource. 



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