European Anchovy
Engraulis encrasicolus
Photo: Jschop · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Keep or release?
Where are you fishing?
Size limits, seasons and female rules are set by each state. Pick yours to get a verdict.
TIDE covers New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland rules, plus federal protections everywhere.
Verifying against GBIF…
Conservation status
IUCN Red ListLeast Concern. The Bay of Biscay fishery was closed entirely from 2005 to 2010 to let the stock recover, and reopened after it did.
What Least Concern means
Assessed as widespread and abundant. This describes the global population, not fishing pressure or legal protection.
On your plate
Common Seafood
A low-impact forage fish and the backbone of Mediterranean cooking.
Regional fishing status
Bay of Biscay and Mediterranean stocks are managed with annual quotas informed by acoustic surveys.
If you buy it
- Purse-seine caught anchovy has minimal bycatch and no seabed contact.
Conservation status and seafood sustainability are two different questions. A species can be Least Concern globally and still be overfished, protected or unsustainable where you are.
Habitat
Coastal surface waters and estuaries
Range
Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean, Black Sea
Size
Up to 20 cm
Diet
Plankton
Lifespan
3–4 years
Group
fish
The Bay of Biscay anchovy fishery was shut for five years and rebounded — proof that closures can work when they are actually enforced.
Anchovies turn plankton into food for tuna, seabirds, dolphins and whales, which is why their abundance sets the productivity of entire ecosystems.
Garum, the fermented anchovy sauce, was the salt-and-umami staple of the Roman Empire.
Cook this species