Introduction

Sardone Project is aimed at developing a series of tools to better understand stock assessment and fishery management of small pelagic fish resources (anchovy and sardine) of the Mediterranean. The three major stocks and fisheries the NW Mediterranean, the Adriatic and the Aegean have been chosen. Investigation will aim at detecting nursery areas, at developing echosurveys for recruitment strenght estimation, at filling the gap in knowledge on the ecology of late larvae and juveniles, at improving the selectivity of current fishing gear, at assessing the impact of fry fisheries on the stocks, at exploring the application of novel stock assessment methodologies to Mediterranean small pelagic stocks.