Workshop 3 on age estimation of European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) (WKARA3; outputs from 2021 meeting)

The Working Group on Biological Parameters (WGBIOP) approved the realization of a new workshop on age reading of European anchovy to discuss the results of the exchange conducted in 2018 and the development of validation studies in this species. Particularly, the workshop previously scheduled for 2020 has been proposed for 2021 (ICES, 2020). The third Workshop on Age Reading of European Anchovy (WKARA3), chaired by Gualtiero Basilone (Italy) and held from 23 to 25 November 2021, was an online meeting due to the persistence of the pandemic situation. Six countries took part in this workshop (Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Portugal and France), with a total of 26 participants from 12 laboratories [(IEO (Santander, Palma de Mallorca, Cádiz and Malaga), AZTI, CNR-IAS, CNR-IRBIM, CIBM, COISPA, UNIPARTENOPE, UNICA, IOF, HCMR, IPMA, and Ifremer]. Fourteen of the participants in this workshop are readers for the assessment of anchovy. In total 16 areas/stocks were considered for evaluation, particularly 4 from the Atlantic Ocean and 12 from the Mediterranean Sea.