Edwin Egbe Atem 1,2,3, Richard Kindong 1,4,5,6,*, Collins Etah Ayuk 2,3,7, Mustapha Sly Bayon 1,8, David Mboglen 1,9 and Siquan Tian 1,4,5,6,*
1 College of Marine Living Resource Sciences and Management, Shanghai Ocean University, No. 999, Hucheng Ring Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai 201306, China; atemedwin58@gmail.com (E.E.A.); msbayon85@gmail.com (M.S.B.); david1mboglen@gmail.com (D.M.)
2 Specialty of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Limbe Nautical Arts and Fisheries Institute (LINAFI), Limbe BP 485, Cameroon; etahayuk@yahoo.com
3 Ministry of Livestock Fisheries and Animal Industries, Yaounde BP 441, Cameroon
4 National Engineering Research Center for Oceanic Fisheries, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
5 Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Sustainable Exploitation of Oceanic Fisheries Resources, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
6 Collaborative Innovation Center for Distant Water Fisheries, Shanghai 201306, China
7 Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management, University of Buea, Buea BP 63, Cameroon
8 Freetown Fisheries Research Centre, Sierra Leone Agricultural Research Institute, Freetown P.M.B. 1313, Sierra Leone
9 Specialized Research Station on Marine Ecosystems, Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD), Kribi BP 219, Cameroon Correspondence: kindongrichard@gmail.com (R.K.); sqtian@shou.edu.cn (S.T.)
Simple Summary
The Central Gulf of Guinea is a large marine ecosystem with a huge biodiversity of aquatic species, including bonga shad (Ethmalosa fimbriata) and lesser African threadfin (Galeoides decadactylus). These fish stocks are a major component of the protein source and are important for the economy of coastal communities in the Central Gulf of Guinea. Application of the general stock assessment methods is a major setback due to limited catch and effort data. Therefore, this study applies the complementary catch-only and abundance-based approaches to determine the stock status of bonga shad and lesser African threadfin (LATF) for proper management of these fisheries in the Central Gulf of Guinea. Our findings showed that bonga shad is in good stock state but presents a risk of long-term stock depletion as the estimated MSY value was below the last year’s catch, whereas the MSY estimate for LATF was close to the last year’s catch, suggesting that LATF is near an overfished state. This research recommends species-specific and precautionary management measures for the sustainability of bonga shad and LATF fisheries in the Central Gulf of Guinea.