Northern Anchovy

U.S. wild-caught northern anchovies are a smart seafood choice because they are sustainably managed and responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations.

• Northern anchovies are small, compressed fish with long snouts that overhang a large mouth.
• They are bluish-green above and silvery below, and adults have a faint silver stripe on the side. 

• Northern anchovies grow quickly, up to about 7 inches.
• They have a short life cycle; they are able to spawn after 2 years and rarely live longer than 4 years.
• They have high natural mortality; each year 45 to 55 percent of the total stock would die of natural causes if no fishing occurred.
• Northern anchovies spawn throughout the year, with peak activity from February to April.
• Females release batches of eggs every 7 to 10 days. The eggs hatch in 2 to 4 days, depending on the temperature of the water.
• Northern anchovies feed on plankton (tiny floating plants and animals).
• They are an important part of the food chain for other fish species, including many recreationally and commercially important fish, as well as birds and marine mammals.

• Northern anchovies are found from British Columbia to Baja California and in the Gulf of California.
• Northern anchovies are divided into two sub-populations in the United States:
  • The northern sub-population is found off Oregon and Washington.
  • The central sub-population ranges from California to Baja California, Mexico.

• NOAA Fisheries and the Pacific Fishery Management Council manage this fishery.
• Northern anchovies are managed under the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan:
  • Monitored through landings data. If landings increase significantly, or exceed the annual catch limit, then managers may make management changes.
  • Limits on the number and capacity of vessels in the fishery.
  • Regulations to reduce bycatch.

• Federal management is coordinated with state fisheries management agencies so that regulations are consistent in state waters (within 3 miles of shore). All states follow federal regulations but some have additional regulations.

• In 2019, commercial landings of northern anchovy totaled more than 22.4 million pounds and were valued at more than $1.1 million, according to the NOAA Fisheries commercial fishing landings database. These figures may not match other agency sources of data due to confidential information. 
• Northern anchovies are generally harvested in the United States with round haul gear.
• Northern anchovies have been fished off the West Coast since at least 1916. The fishery was small until the Pacific sardine fishery collapsed in the 1940s and 1950s. Processors began canning anchovies instead of sardines, and fishermen started harvesting more anchovies.
• Consumer demand for anchovies decreased after the sardine population recovered, and the commercial fishery for northern anchovies gradually declined.
• Today, northern anchovies are used mainly for bait in other fisheries and sometimes processed into fish meal.