Report of the First Meeting of the Working Group on Small Pelagic Fisheries of the Scientific Committee of the Southwest Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission (SWIOFC), Blue Bay, Mauritius, 9-12 April 2019

Abstract

The Working Group on Fisheries for Small Pelagic Fish (WGSP) reviewed the state of knowledge on the main fisheries harvesting small pelagic fish in the Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO) region, identified the species to be analysed in greater detail by the Working Group and carried out a Productivity-Susceptibility Analysis (PSA) of ten Small Pelagic fish stocks from the region. A total of 38 species of small pelagic fish were identified for future work of the Working Group. Of the ten (10) stocks analysed using the Productivity-Susceptibility Analysis, eight (8) were scored as being at low risk, while two (2) scored as medium risk. The WGSP will continue working by correspondence during the intersessional period, until the second meeting, to be held during the first semestre of 2021.