Multivariate Health Index of the anchovy: Understanding the dynamics of small pelagic fish under environmental variability
Date:
This oral presentation introduces a multivariate health-index framework for evaluating the state of small pelagic fish populations under strong environmental variability. The Peruvian anchovy (Engraulis ringens) is used as an applied case study to illustrate how multiple biological, ecological, and spatial dimensions can be integrated into a synthetic diagnostic indicator.
The central idea is that small pelagic fish populations are highly dynamic systems, characterized by rapid responses to climate variability, strong environmental forcing, high demographic plasticity, and marked fluctuations in productivity, distribution, and reproductive output. Under this context, stock status cannot be fully represented by biomass alone. A broader diagnostic framework is needed to integrate complementary signals of population condition and ecosystem response.
The proposed Multivariate Health Index combines five dimensions of stock state: population magnitude, individual condition, demographic structure, spatial distribution, and reproduction. This framework is intended to support ecosystem-informed assessment, comparative diagnosis across years or regimes, and adaptive management of small pelagic fish and forage communities in variable marine ecosystems.
Authors: Elmer Quispe-Salazar & Jorge Tam.
Keywords: Small pelagic fish; forage fish; Peruvian anchovy; multivariate health index; environmental variability; stock-state indicators; demographic plasticity; ecosystem approach to fisheries; adaptive management.
How to cite this work:
Quispe-Salazar, E., & Tam, J. (2026). Multivariate Health Index of the anchovy: Understanding the dynamics of small pelagic fish under environmental variability [Oral presentation]. SPF-2026 International Symposium: Navigating Changes in Small Pelagic Fish and Forage Communities, La Paz, Mexico. North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES). https://meetings.pices.int/publications/presentations/2026-SPF
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