U. S. Copyright Clearance Center Code Statement: 0173-9565/02/S2301±078$15.00/0 The State of the Adriatic Sea Centered on the Small Pelagic Fish Populations Massimo Azzali* ,1 , Andrea De Felice 1 , Manlio Luna 1 , Giulio Cosimi 1 & Flavio Parmiggiani 2 1 C.N.R.- I.R.Pe.M., Largo Fiera 2, Ancona, Italy. 2 C.N.R.- I.S.A.O., Via Gobetti 101, Bologna, Italy. With 9 figures and 1 table Keywords: Fishery acoustics, pelagic biomass, surface temperature, catches. Abstract. The paper provides an overview of the state of the small pelagic fish in the Adriatic Sea. The North Adriatic is reviewed for the 1976±1998 period and the South Adriatic for the 1987±1998 period. First the fluctuations in time and in space of the pelagic biomass, as a whole and per species, are presented. Then the dramatic collapse of anchovy stock and its apparent association with the decrease of surface temperature is discussed. Finally the changes of the anchovy and sardine catches are compared and analysed with respect to their abundances in the sea. The conclusion is that acoustic and satellite methods are able to provide a large amount of information on the variability in the pelagic populations; this is essential for an appropriate management of these resour- ces. There is still a need, however, to refine the methods and to integrate this kind of information with further environmental data (including natural predators). Problem The Adriatic Sea is one of the most productive systems in the Mediterranean. This pro- duction supports correspondingly the largest catches of small pelagic species (anchovy, sardine) in Italy and one of the most important fishing fleets in the Mediterranean. However, pelagic fishery in the Adriatic Sea as well as in the other major fishing areas of the world faces the problem of the enormous variability of these resources. The most spectacular example of this phenomenon was the collapse of the Peruvian ªanchovetaº in 1984. Similar situations, even if less dramatic, arose in the last decades in many regions: offshore northwest and southwest Africa (Belve Âze & Erzini, 1983), offshore California (Lasker, 1978), in the Japanese Sea (Tanaka, 1984) and all over the western Mediterranean (Spain, Algeria, Morocco). It is interesting to note that similar P.S.Z.N.: Marine Ecology, 23, Supplement 1 (2002), 78±91 Ó 2002 Blackwell Verlag, Berlin ISSN 0173-9565 * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: azzali@irpem.an.cnr.it