Sardinellas caught in the southern CECAF area from Guinea to Angola are composed of two species, round sardinella (Sardinella aurita) and flat sardinella (Sardinella maderensis), however they are commonly not distinguished in catch reporting. The surveys carried out in the CECAF area show that sardinella is found in a vast area stretching from the North to South of all area. For the moment, the FAO/CECAF Working Group has agreed on the existence of four stocks for these two species in the southern CECAF area: northern zone (Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia), western zone (Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Ghana, Togo and Benin), central zone (Nigeria and Cameroon) and southern zone (Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Congo and Angola) areas (Figure 2.1.1).

CATCH AND EFFORT: -CENTRAL STOCK- Flat sardinella constitutes the dominant catch in the central region. Although the catch of flat sardinella in Cameroon is relatively high, there is high inconsistency in effort. Continuous time series data of catch are only available from 2002 to 2008. There was no data collection system in place in 1990–93 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 inconsistent.
CPUE: The CPUE for the artisanal and industrial fisheries was calculated separately for the two sardinella species (S. auritaand S. maderensis) and stocks. Owing to data collection bottlenecks, the two sardinella species are not reported separately for the northern stock (Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and Liberia); where they are reported as Sardinella spp. Therefore, the CPUE for Sardinella spp. was also calculated. The two species were also combined to harmonize assessment for the south and central stocks (Figure 2.3.1a, Figure 2.3.1b, Figure 2.3.1c, Figure 2.3.1d, Figure 2.3.1e, and Figure 2.3.1f, and Table 2.3.1a, Table 2.3.1b, and Table 2.3.1c).
-CENTRAL STOCK- No CPUE was calculated because there were no effort data from Nigeria and no catch and effort data from Cameroon. *Data only available for Nigeria until 2015. Last year catch is from 2015, and the average is only three years from 2013-2015 (FAO, 2020).

Assessment year: 2018
The CECAF Working Groups have adopted the following Biological Reference Points (BRPs):
- Limit Reference points: BMSY and FMSY
- Target Reference Points: B0.1 and F0.1
Stock status is assigned based on current estimates of fishing mortality (Fcur) and biomass (Bcur) relative to these target and limit reference points (Bcur/BMSY, Fcur/FMSY, Bcur/B0.1, Fcur/F0.1). The results from the stock assessment of this stock are found under the “Biological state and trend section”.