Growth Patterns of Small Pelagic Fish in West Africa

Josepha Duarte Pinto Gomes, Bocar Sabaly Baldé (), Saliou Faye, Iça Barry, Hervé Demarcq and Patrice Brehmer
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Josepha Duarte Pinto Gomes: Investigação Pesqueira e Marinha Oceanografica (INIPO), Av. Amilcar Cabral, Bissau 102/72, Guinea
Bocar Sabaly Baldé: Institut Sénégalais de Recherche Agricole (ISRA), Centre de Recherche Océanographique de Dakar-Thiaroye, CRODT, Centre PRH, Dakar BP 2241, Senegal
Saliou Faye: Institut Sénégalais de Recherche Agricole (ISRA), Centre de Recherche Océanographique de Dakar-Thiaroye, CRODT, Centre PRH, Dakar BP 2241, Senegal
Iça Barry: Investigação Pesqueira e Marinha Oceanografica (INIPO), Av. Amilcar Cabral, Bissau 102/72, Guinea
Hervé Demarcq: MARBEC, IRD, CNRS, Université Montpellier, 34090 Montpellier, France
Patrice Brehmer: IRD, University of Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, UMR Lemar, Dakar BP 1386, Senegal

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 22, 1-17

Abstract: Small pelagic fishes play important ecological roles in marine ecosystems, constitute some of the most economically valuable fisheries resources, and play a vital role in West African food security. Often living in upwelling regions, these species appear to have developed mechanisms to cope with environmental variability, such as opportunistic reproductive tactics, enhancing their growth performance, or increasing their egg production by following the more predictable system attributes of seasonal cycles. To test this hypothesis, we investigated size-dependent patterns of the two growth mechanisms (i.e., growth rate) of two West African small pelagic populations ( Ethmalosa fimbriata and Sardinella maderensis ) in upwelling environments. These results were discussed with other areas in African tropical Atlantic waters. The monthly mean length of both species showed a large variation over the study period. Based on the fish length-frequency data and a coastal upwelling index, we found that the growth peaks of the species tended to occur during the most intense periods of upwelling (March–April). This study showed a significant decrease in size compared with other species found in other regions. It demonstrates how the geographical distribution of the same species, together with location-specific variation in temperature and food, can combine to determine local and regional growth responses in pelagic fish. Changes in growth rate may be an adaptive tactic in response to environmental change, as well as phenotypic plasticity in fish. This knowledge is essential to predict future changes in fish productivity and distribution vs. climate and to provide effective advice for ecosystem-based management.

Keywords: Bonga shad; Sardinella; body size; environmental changes; exploited species; population dynamics; West Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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