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Pelagics & Minor Finfish-
Pacific Region
Anchovy Fishery
The scientific name for northern anchovy is Engraulis mordax
from the Greek word Engraulis (European anchovy) and the Latin
mordax (biting). Anchovies are members of the herring order.
The northern anchovy is easily recognized by it's extremely
long upper jaw. The fish is elongated, blue-green on the back
with silver sides and belly. Northern anchovies reach about
25 cm in length and have a life span of about 7 years.
Adult anchovy prefer to spawn in water temperatures that range
from 13° C to 18° C and most reside in warmer southern waters.
In British Columbia, anchovy spawn in July and August. The eggs
are elliptical with a length of about 1.5 mm.  The
eggs float, first with the major axis perpendicular and later
with the major axis horizontal. Eggs hatch in two to four
days, depending on the water temperature. Larvae are 2.5 to
3 mm long. Anchovies are multiple spawners, at any one time
only a fraction of the eggs are mature enough to be released.
Compared to southern areas, where spawning may occur over a
period of several months, the duration of the spawning season
in B.C. is short. Total annual production of eggs is about 20
000 to 30 000 eggs per fish.
Anchovies feed on euphasids, copepods and decapod larvae. Anchovies
have two methods of feeding: (1) filter feeding-the long slender
gill rakers are used to filter planktonic food or (2) particulate
feeding-larger individual food particles are seized with a quick
bite. The larger and more nutritionally valuable food items
may be too fast to sucumb to passive filter-feeding but are
probably not fast enough to escape the sudden seizure of a bite
attack.
In British Columbia, the anchovy fishery is small and mainly
for bait. Located primarily on the west coast of Vancouver Island,
the fishery is conducted by seine net. |
