<div>Background: An understanding of the stock structure of commercially exploited species is important for effective fisheries management. The white sardine Escualosa thoracata (Valenciennes, 1847) forms a significant fishery along with both the costs of India. The decline in the resource landings during the last decade along the whole range of its distribution necessitated the recent deliberations to recognize the likely existence of stocks. In the present study, fish stocks are typically identified based on the differences in phenotypic characteristics between fish from discrete units to assess the stock structure of white sardine in the Indian waters using a biometric analysis. 
 
Methods: Different four distinct locations, two each from the west coast (Mumbai and Cochin) and east coast (Kolkata and Chennai) along the Indian peninsula were surveyed based on the geographical situation during 2016. The collected samples of Escualosa thoracata were determined morpho-meristic based deliberationsand subsequently, the data analysis was carried out to recognize the likely existence of stocks. 
 
Result: Biometric analysis used as one of the important complementary contributions to manage and control the management-related problems in the future. The results obtained by the morphometric and the meristic analyses, were correlated and conformed.</div>

Delineation of the Stock Structure of White Sardine Escualosa thoracata (Valenciennes, 1847) Along the Indian Waters based on Biometric Analysis

Background: Small pelagic species like white sardine gained importance due to their high demand in local markets over years has become important to sustainably harvest the available resources. Thus, the current study was aimed to decipher the stock structure studies based on chemometric analysis of natural signature fatty acid profile which plays an important role in stock identification to the formulation of better sustainable management plans and its conservation. 
 
Methods: Samples of Escualosa thoracata were collected from four locations each from two on the east coast (Chennai and Kolkata) and west coast (Mumbai and Kochi) of the Indian peninsula 2019-2020. Heart tissue from the specimen from each location was collected, preserved and fatty acid profiling was performed. The analysis comprised methanolysis, gas chromatography and multivariate statistics. 
 
Result: The profile showed a difference between southern and northern populations&nbsp; on both the coast. The trend was more obvious in SAFAs and PUFAs; SAFAs were high content in the southern populations and PUFAs were high content in the northern populations. The separation can be attributed to the latitudinal effects on the deposition of fatty acids.

Deciphering the Stock Structure of White Sardine Escualosa thoracata (Valenciennes, 1847) along the Indian Waters by using Chemometric Analysis of Natural Signature Fatty Acid Profile