Assessment and management of western Mediterranean small-scale fisheries

Quetglas, Antoni; Merino, Gorka; Ordines, Francesc; Guijarro, Beatríz; Garau, Antoni Ordines; Grau, Antoni; Oliver, Pere; Massutí, Enric

doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.09.013

Cited by 41 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Although most of the fishing mortality is exerted by bottom otter trawl, fishing mortality by small-scale fisheries, basically trammel net and longline, is not to be considered negligible. For instance, a 53% reduction in the fishing effort of the small-scale fisheries in the Balearic Islands was proposed to keep the stocks exploited in shallower waters than the bottom trawl fisheries below their MSY (Quetglas et al 2016). The small-scale fisheries change the target species during the year and usually operate during key life-history periods, such as when spawners concentrate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fishing effort alternatives for the management of demersal fisheries in the western Mediterranean

et al. 2019

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Management alternatives based on fishing effort for the demersal fisheries in the western Mediterranean were tested, with the novelty of examining management alternatives at temporal scales smaller than one year. Nine scenarios were considered on the basis of input control: decrease in the number of fishing days, which may correspond to cessation of activity of vessels or lower activity of the fleet; and implementation of seasonal closures of one-, two- and three-month duration in winter, spring, summer and autumn. The approach is based on a multispecies and multigear bioeconomic model. We selected a total of ten species (Merluccius merluccius, Nephrops norvegicus, Mullus barbatus, Mullus surmuletus, Parapenaeus longirostris, Lophius piscatorius, Lophius budegassa, Aristeus antennatus, Phycis blennoides and Lepidorhombus boscii) and seven fleets, defined as a combination of fishing gear (bottom trawl, entangling nets and longline) and fleet segment. A similar decrease in F is achieved with a 20% reduction of fishing effort (days) or with two- to three-month closures. Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) for all stocks would be achieved only with such a drastic reduction of fishing effort ( > 80% of fishing days by the end of the five years of simulation) that, in practice, its application can be considered unrealistic, since it would represent a very low activity of all fishing fleets over the year.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fishing effort alternatives for the management of demersal fisheries in the western Mediterranean

et al. 2019

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“…Most fishers are at or near the economic sustainability level (Maynou et al 2013), so proper assessment and management of the fisheries should take into account that fishing tactics may be continuously adapted from mainly targeting cuttlefish to mainly targeting some of the by-catch species. In some studies, trammel nets deployed around the lower limit of P. oceanica are split into two different métiers based on a given threshold of catch similarity (Quetglas et al 2016). However, a pragmatic alternative, which may better reflect fishers' intentions, would be to consider them a single métier (cuttlefish/fish) because even fishers themselves are not able to accurately discriminate between them (Palmer et al 2017).…”

Section: Commercial Catchesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mediterranean small-scale fisheries provide approximately 42800 jobs and represent 60.4% of the EU Mediterranean fishing sector employment (STECF 2017). The small-scale fisheries in the Balearic Islands (GSA05) provide fresh, local seafood of high quality to both local consumers and tourists , Quetglas et al 2016. This fleet comprises 318 boats, which represent 85% of the total Balearic fleet (official data in 2016 from the Regional Fisheries Administration (Direcció General de Pesca i Medi Marí, DGPMM).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main métiers (i.e. the fishing gear targeting a specific group of species in a fishing area during a specific season) use static nets (trammel net and gillnet), mainly targeting spiny lobster, cuttlefish and red mullet, but small seines targeting dolphinfish or transparent goby and small longlines are also commonly used métiers (Quetglas et al 2016, Palmer et al 2017. The cuttlefish trammel net fishery comprises 93 boats (29% of the small-scale fleet of the Balearic Islands), but this fishery is the most important in terms of fishing effort, with an average of 4964 fishing trips per year for the period 2004-2015 (33.9%), and in terms of landings, with an average of 123 t/year (29.1%; Palmer et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Commercial catches and discards of a Mediterranean small-scale cuttlefish fishery: implications of the new EU discard policy

et al. 2018

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The cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) trammel net fishery is one of the most important small-scale fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea. Here we describe the main catch, by-catch and discard patterns found in this fishery on Mallorca Island by onboard surveys of 1005 netting walls from 23 fishing trips. The number of items captured, their size and their subsequent use, i.e. kept for sale or discarded, were recorded. Furthermore, the immediate survival of the unwanted items (i.e. vitality state when the gear came on board) and the medium-term survival of a subsample were assessed. The cuttlefish was the dominant species in the commercial fraction of the catch, particularly during the fishing season peak (March). However, S. officinalis catches quickly decreased further into the season, with other high-value fish, such as Scorpaena scrofa, increasing in the commercial fraction of the catch. As species composition is continuously changing, it is often difficult to determine the main target species of this fishery. This strategy possibly complicates management but maximizes fishing revenue, which was an average of €175 per trip. With respect to discards, up to 104 different species were caught but not commercialized. The most abundant were Holothuria sp. and Torpedo marmorata. Their immediate survival was 100% and 20%, respectively. In both cases, the medium-term survival and the vitality status were high after seven days in monitored captivity. Therefore, in these cases, their immediate release to the sea should be promoted, given that they are exempt from the EU landing obligation. Interviews with fishers revealed that the perceived quantity of discards was lower than the amount recorded by the present study. Currently, just a small percentage (1.5%) of these discards will be affected by the landing obligation enforced by the new European discards ban.

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“…The data here reported suggests that 63% of the fishing trips are operated by SSF. Therefore, albeit trawlers and seiners provided most of the landed fish in Mallorca (Quetglas et al, 2016), the direct and indirect economic impact of SSF are noticeable (Carreras et al, 2015). According to Quetglas et al (2016), SSF represents 20% of landings and 27% of gross revenues.…”

Section: Management Outcomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining sale records of landings and fishers knowledge for predicting métiers in a small-scale, multi-gear, multispecies fishery

et al. 2017

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Stock management should be guided by assessment models that, among others, need to be fed by reliable data of catch and effort. However, precise data are difficult to obtain in heterogeneous fisheries. Specifically, small-scale, multi-gear, multispecies fisheries are dynamic systems where fishers may lively change fishing strategy (i.e., métier) conditioned by multiple drivers. Provided that some stocks can be shared by several métiers, a precise categorization of métiers should be the first step toward métier-specific estimates of catch and effort, which in turn would allow a better understanding of the system dynamics. Here we propose an approach for predicting the métier of any given fishing trip from its landing records. This approach combines the knowledge of expert fishers with the existing sales register of landings in Mallorca (Western Mediterranean). It successfully predicts métiers for all the 162,815 small-scale fishery fishing trips from Mallorca between 2004 and 2015. The largest effort is invested in the métiers Cuttlefish/Fish and Spiny lobster, landings peak for Cuttlefish/Fish and Dolphinfish and revenues for Spiny lobster and Dolphinfish. Métier predictions also allowed us to describe the temporal (seasonal and between-year) trends experienced by each métier and to characterize the species (commercial categories) that are specific to each métier. Seasonal variability is by far more relevant than betweenyear variability, which confirms that at least some fishers are adopting a rotation cycle of métiers along the year. Effort (fishing trips), landings and gross revenues decreased in the last 12 years (2004 to 2015). The approach proposed is also applicable to any other fishery for which the métier for a fishing trip sample is known (e.g., on-board observers or logbooks), but relying on fishers expertise points more directly to fishers' intention. Thus, métier predictions produced with the proposed approach are closer to the actual uses of fishers, providing better grounds for an improved management.

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Assessment and management of western Mediterranean small-scale fisheries

Cited by 41 publications

References 48 publications

Fishing effort alternatives for the management of demersal fisheries in the western Mediterranean

Fishing effort alternatives for the management of demersal fisheries in the western Mediterranean

Commercial catches and discards of a Mediterranean small-scale cuttlefish fishery: implications of the new EU discard policy

Combining sale records of landings and fishers knowledge for predicting métiers in a small-scale, multi-gear, multispecies fishery

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