Résumé
Sardinella (Sardinella aurita and Sardinella maderensis) is the main target species for the small-scale pelagic fisheries along the Mauritanian and Senegalese continental shelf. Income of these fisheries has decreased between 1993 and 2011 due to high variability in sardinella abundance and an increase in fishing capacity and subsequent effort. Data on effort and basic economic information have been collected regularly between 1993 and 2011 by the Centre de Recherches Océanographiques de Dakar-Thiaroye (CRODT) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The latest study carried out in 2010 has reported a financial hardship for this fisheries sector. To investigate the current situation of the small-scale pelagic fisheries targeting Sardinella, we carried out an extensive interview survey among Senegalese fishermen in 2015, covering 450 skippers and vessel owners. Using historical data as baseline, we analysed the development of the last 20 yearswith respect to (1) technical, economic and social characteristics of vessels; (2) invested capital; (3) operating costs (fixed and variable costs); (4) income (5) overall profitability and (6) effect of changes in regulations on the sector.