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Bay Anchovy Index of Abundance

A pile of bay anchovies on the sorting table
Pile of Bay Anchovies Bay Anchovies are the most abundant fish in Chesapeake Bay and in Juvenile Finfish Trawl Survey catches. From 1995-2011, over 10 million Bay Anchovies were recorded by the survey.
Two types of Anchovies laying on a table: Striped Anchovy and Bay Anchovy
Types of Anchovies The Juvenile Finfish Trawl Survey encounters two species of anchovies in Chesapeake Bay: the Striped Anchovy (top), and the Bay Anchovy (bottom). Both are schooling species that feed on zooplankton.
Larval Bay Anchovy and Atlantic Menhaden lying in a pan for visual comparison
Bay Anchovy vs Atlantic Menhaden The Juvenile Finfish Trawl Survey encounters many species that can be difficult to distinguish from one another, especially at the larval and juvenile stages. An example shown here is the Bay Anchovy (top) and Atlantic Menhaden (bottom two).

Bay Anchovy index of abundance figure. The graph shows Bay Anchovy annual indices of abundance from all sampling stations from 1988 to 2023.

About the data

This species first recruits to the survey gear in July. All bay and river stations are used to calculate the index of abundance.

  • The young-of-year cutoff values are as follows (index months are listed in bold):
    • July: 0-44 mm.
    • August: 0-51 mm.
    • September: 0-56 mm.
    • October: 0-61 mm.
    • November: 0-65 mm.
    • December: 0-70 mm.
    • January: 0-77 mm.
    • February: 0-80 mm.
    • March: 0-80 mm.
    • April: 0-80 mm.
    • May: 0-80 mm.
    • June: 0-80 mm.

Data collected after the transition to a new vessel and net in June 2015 have been adjusted by a species-specific calibration factor.

Bay Anchovy Excel file (Microsoft Excel download)