Assessing Arti‚cial Reefs for Fisheries Management: A 10-Year Assessment off the Northern Coast of Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

The Mediterranean Sea can be considered as typical in the use of artificial reefs for fish stock and fishery management. Artificial reefs have been used over 40 years in the Mediterranean, mostly to deter illegal trawling in coastal areas and other sensitive habitats, which generally include important spawning and nursery areas for many commercial species. Additionally, artificial reefs are used to reduce conflicts between different fishing activities, mainly illegal trawling and small-scale fisheries operating with set gears. The objectives of most artificial reef deployments in the Mediterranean are to enhance overexploited fish stocks and improve small-scale fisheries, one of the most important activities for the coastal communities. At present, artificial reefs have been constructed in ten Mediterranean bordering countries: Cyprus,

Impact of breakwater relocation on benthic biodiversity associated with seagrass meadows of northern Adriatic Sea

“…Breakwaters are artificial structures planned to contrast shoreline erosion from wave actions and currents (Bertasi et al 2007;Relini et al 2007). Since the seventies, breakwaters have been installed along the Mediterranean coasts, and 35% of them deployed along the Italian coastline of the northern Adriatic Sea (Fabi and Spagnolo 2011;Santelli et al 2013). Sandy beaches along the north-western coasts of the Adriatic Sea have been subjected to a significant anthropogenic impact since historical times, and the deployment of breakwaters along with uncontrolled freshwater inputs in highly urbanized littorals may greatly increase the impact on coastal ecosystem (Cencini 1998;Colantoni et al 2004).…”