Round sardinella, Sardinella aurita, occurring off the coasts of Morocco, Mauritania, and Senegal are considered to be largely migratory throughout the West African region, though studies have indicated the existence of stationary sub-groups; and there is evidence of a Moroccan S. aurita component that is genetically isolated from S. aurita in Mauritanian-Senegalese waters  (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2001; Bacha et al. 2016) .  A five year initiative (2014-2019) is currently underway to define the genetic background of S. aurita and S. maderensis between Morocco and Namibia (FAO 2016; Coastal Resources Center 2017) . Meanwhile, for assessment purposes, the FAO considers a single stock unit ranging from south of Senegal to Morocco's northern border (Casey et al. 2014 ; FAO 2016) . 

Round sardinella are exploited in artisanal and industrial small pelagic fisheries of Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia.  Together with Madeiran sardinella (S. maderensis) and Bonga shad (Ethmalosa fimbriata), they are the primary source of feed for the fishmeal industry in Mauritania (FAO 2016) .