The catches are dominated by S. aurita off Ghana and Togo while S. maderensis is the dominant species off Benin. The two sardinellas are exploited mainly by the artisanal fleets in Ghana, Togo and Benin and to a lesser extent by the semi-industrial (inshore) fleet and the industrial fish trawlers in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. In the three countries, the artisanal fleet uses either artisanal purse seine gear (locally called Poli/Watsa) or beach seine to exploit the two species.

Catch

The catches of sardinella are shown in Tables 2.2.1a,b,c. Effort is shown in Table 2.2.2 and Figures 2.2.2a,b.
The dorminant catch in the region is Sardinella maderensis. Although the catch of Sardinella maderensis in Cameroon is relatively high, there is high inconsistency in effort. Continuous time series data of catch is only available from 2002 to 2008. There was no data collection system in place during 1990–1993 and 1997–2001. Nigeria accounts for the bulk of the catch but there are no effort data for this region. The catch and effort data in this region are noisy, with inconsistencies.