Age and Growth of European Pilchard Sardina pilchardus (Clupeidae) from the Southwestern Mediterranean Sea

A sample of 525 sagittal otoliths of European pilchard Sardina pilchardus ranging between 9.4 and 21.4 cm in total length is collected from the Algerian waters in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Three readers have determined ages based on otolith increments. The percentage agreement among all readers is 85.3%, with a mean coefficient of variation of 33.9%. The length at age estimates reveal a total of six age groups (ranging from 0 to 5 years) in 2017 and five age groups (0 to 4 years) in 2018 and 2019. The von Bertalanffy function provides the following parameters: L-infinity = 21.86 (+/- 1.74) cm, K = 0.27 (+/- 0.07), and t(0) = -2.96 (+/- 0.41). The obtained results are the most important input data for most stock assessment methods when determining the state of exploitation of this stock.