PO-SPACC - Portuguese small pelagic fish and climate change programme: a comparative retrospective analysis

Sardine, horse mackerel and anchovy are socio-economically important species for the countries of the region (Portugal, Spain, France and Morocco). The fluctuations of their populations pose important problems for fisheries management policies.

Sets of atmospheric, oceanographic and fisheries biology data from in situ and remote sensing observations are the primary sources of information to create the time series for the present investigation. State-of-the-art statistical methods will be applied in the analysis of these time series. The main objective of Portugal-SPACC is to investigate and understand the causes that drive the variability in small pelagic fish population dynamics through the organization and comparative analysis of time series of fisheries biology data and environmental data.