This species has a widespread range in the Mediterranean Sea. It is common in some areas, but shows strong fluctuations; it is known to have disappeared from the Gulf of Lion. Overall population trends are not known, but in the Black Sea a sharp decline in landings was seen in 1990. Currently, the population status is not known. Better data are needed on population trends in the Mediterranean Sea to be able to assess the species beyond Data Deficient.

In the north-east Atlantic, this species is present from North Sea and Baltic south to Morocco.

In the Mediterranean Sea, it is present in Adriatic (Dulcic 1998), Sea of Marmara (Yuksek et al. 2006) and Black sea. It does not occur around Israel (D. Golani pers. comm. 2007). It is more common in some areas.

The subspecies S. sprattus balticus ranges from southern Skagerrak, and Mecklenburg and Kiel Bays to Kvarken in the Gulf of Bothnia, and to Kornstadt in the Gulf of Finland.

With a highly variable biomass, the sprat stock shows wide fluctuations but supported intensive fishing by the former Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1970s. More recent increases in exploitation rate are associated with declines in catches, that are linked to the explosion of the predatory ctenophore Mnemiopsis leydei which has been dominant in the pelagic ecosystem since the late 1980s. The stocks of sprat and several other species in the Northern Black Sea may not now be overexploited. The apparent decrease of sprat (boreal) can indicate a global warming process. In other parts of the eastern Mediterranean, new inshore fisheries have developed for very small pelagic species (FAO 2005). There is little scientific information on this species in the Mediterranean.

This species is present in the Northeast Atlantic, North Sea and Baltic south to Morocco, it also occurs in the Mediterranean, Adriatic and Black Seas.

This species is common in some areas. It has disappeared recently from the Gulf of Lion (J.P. Quignard pers. comm. 2007), the reasons are unknown. The overall population in the Mediterranean and Black Seas shows strong fluctuations.

According to Sinovcic et al. (2004), 208 specimens were caught by purse seine and beach seine throughout the period January 1998 to February 2003 in the east Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea.

This is a pelagic, oceanodromous species that usually forms large school near the coast and sometimes entering estuaries (especially the juveniles) (Fricke et al. 2007), tolerating salinities as low as 4 ppt. This species shows strong migrations between winter feeding and summer spawning grounds. It moves to the surface at night. It feeds on planktonic crustaceans (Flintegård 1987). It spawns at depths of 10-20 m producing 6,000-14,000 pelagic eggs (Muus and Nielsen 1999). Some individuals spawn almost throughout the year, mainly in spring and summer, near the coast or up to 100km out to sea, the young drifting inshore. It spawns from May to June in the Black Sea and from December to April in the Mediterranean Sea, but spawning can occur all year round in both areas (Fischer et al. 1987). Its preferred climate and habitats are temperate, neritic, marine and estuaries.

This is a species with high commercial importance. Juveniles are used as bait and it is also sold as 'brislings' to canneries. Sprat are used in the production of fish meal and as mink food, less for human consumption (Flintegård 1987).

Sprattus sprattus annual landings (tons) in the Mediterranean Sea (1996-2005), obtained from the FAO FISHSTAT Fisheries Statistical Database (2007): 28,075 (1996), 28,158 (1997), 38,309 (1998), 39,351 (1999), 42,007 (2000), 63,095 (2001), 70,126 (2002), 63,046 (2003), 49,615 (2004), 53,926 (2005).

Recent figures appear to show an increase in landings (in the Mediterranean and Black Seas) over the last ten years (there was a highly significant decline in the 1990s in the Black Sea (Volovik and Agapov 2003). It is reported to be fished by several types of fishing gear but mostly from trawlers. It is used for food and for industrial purposes (e.g., fishmeal).

Coastal and riverine pollution may be a threat to this species at certain stages in its life history.

This is a species with high commercial importance. Juveniles are used as bait and it is also sold as 'brislings' to canneries. Sprat are used in the production of fish meal and as mink food, less for human consumption (Flintegård 1987). It is utilized fresh, smoked, canned, and frozen, can be pan-fried and broiled (Frimodt 1995).

In the Black Sea, this species has some minimum size regulations: 6 cm (Bulgaria, Ukraine) and 7 cm (Romania). No other specific conservation measures are known to be in place. However, this species may be present in marine protected areas that fall within its distribution.