By Suzanne Potter, Public News Service

The sardine population is continuing to collapse, according to a new assessment by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.(Photo: jasonwebber01/morguefile)

March 7, 2016 (Los Angeles) -- A new federal assessment shows the population of sardines off the West Coast has continued to plummet; it's a third lower than last spring, even though the entire sardine fishery was closed in 2015.