We investigate the empirical application of resilience analysis, considering how fishing communities and fishery management institutions have responded and adapted to large-scale changes in the Bay of Biscay anchovy fishery. The system has undergone important transformations in the last two decades, with a closure of the fishery from 2005 to 2010. This has had negative repercussions due to displacement of fishing effort increasing pressure on other species and loss of market for the French operators. Spanish fishing industries on the other hand seem to have been more robust to changes. While the anchovy stock has recovered, the fishery socio-ecological system has not returned to its pre-collapse status. Through a multidisciplinary and systemic approach combining quantitative methods (time series analyses of fisheries data) and qualitative methods (interviews with key stakeholders), we 1) analyze adaptive responses of fishing communities and industries as well as fisheries management, 2) examine potential opportunities or barriers to adaptation in France and in Spain, and 3) identify governance mechanisms that support adaptation towards more resilient and sustainable fishery systems. We highlight the difficulties in answering the question “was the anchovy fishery socio-ecological system resilient to the collapse of the resource?”; We find the response depends on whom is asked, as well as on the management objectives and their application scales. This retrospective analysis can serve as a basis for a more comprehensive assessment and understanding of the long-term responses at the sectoral, coastal community and institutional levels in this and other fisheries systems, in the face of possible future shocks.