Understanding the role of ocean currents in the recruitment of commercially important fish is an important step toward developing sustainable resource management guidelines. Here, we attempt to elucidate the role of surface ocean transport in supplying recruits of European sardines to the Gulf of Manfredonia, a known recruitment area in the Adriatic Sea. We find that transport to the Gulf of Manfredonia from remote spawing areas in the Adriatic is more likely than local spawning and retention.