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¹ Ecole Nationale Supérieure des sciences de la mer et de l’Aménagement du littoral (ENSSMAL), bois des Cars, Dely Brahim, Alger, Algeria
² Institute of Marine Sciences (CSIC), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta, 37-49. E-08003 Barcelona, Spain
³ Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Agronomie, Hassen Badi, El harrach, Alger, Algeria DOI : 10.4194/1303-2712-v14_4_08 Viewed : 5285 - Downloaded : 4669 An integrated fisheries management tool based on a bio-economic model was applied to the small pelagics (sardine) fishery in central Algeria (Mediterranean Sea). The basic bio-economic conditions of the fishery were established and relevant biological and economic indicators were analysed under different management scenarios defined by changes on fleet capacity and daily fishing time. The results show that the fishery is subject to high fishing pressure (1,548 units in 1990 and 4,445 units in 2007) (Maouel, 2003, Medrous, 2013) and current government policies aiming to increase fishing capacity (1,493 new units are projected for 2025) (MPRH, 2008) would likely worsen the conservation status of the resource, without contributing to a significant volume of catches or economic profits. Instead, a reduction of daily fishing time would allow decreasing the fishing mortality, without significantly reducing the total production or profits of the fishery to the current fleet. However, the short-term loss faced by the industry is a major constraint towards the acceptability of this type of management measures by the fishing sector. Keywords : Bio-economic modelling, small pelagics, integrated management, Mediterranean sea, Algerian coasts