Effects of small-scale and recreational fisheries on the Gran Canaria ecosystem

Temporal and spatial predictions of effect of alternative fishing policies for the Gran Canaria marine ecosystem

“…Scenario 5 showed similar results as those obtained in Scenario 4; however, a few important species would not be recovered with these management strategies, at least in the short term. This is the case for the red porgy Pagrus pagrus (L. 1758) and common pandora Pagellus erythrinus (L. 1758) stocks that already were heavily exploited or overfished by 2005 (Couce‐Montero et al ., ; Pajuelo & Lorenzo, ).…”

“…and B. scrofa . The results obtained for the different species of tuna in these three scenarios should be taken with caution as the model does not consider the migration of tuna (Couce‐Montero et al ., ) and only a part of the available biomass is included. The scenarios 4 and 5 (Table ) are the most conservative and give the best results in biological terms.…”

“…It is important to highlight that the results obtained for the different tuna species in all scenarios should considered with caution as the model does not include migration of these species (Couce‐Montero et al ., ) and only the local part of their biomass is included.…”

Historical photographs of captures of recreational fishers indicate overexploitation of nearshore resources at an oceanic island

“…In the specific case of the island of Gran Canaria and in the same way that showed McClenachan () in the Florida Keys, over the past 70 years have produced very significant changes, in the health of target species for recreational and artisanal fishing and in their fishing strategy (Castro et al, ; Couce‐Montero et al, ). Historical photographs indicate that species such as E. marginatus have suffered a significant reduction in the mean length of capture.…”

“…Historical photographs indicate that species such as E. marginatus have suffered a significant reduction in the mean length of capture. There are previous papers that demonstrate that many fish stocks in the Canary Islands waters are overfished (Couce‐Montero et al, ; García‐Cabrera, ; González, ) and the historical photos are also reflecting one of the negative effects of overfishing, reducing the mean length of some key species (Alós et al, ; Froese, ). These data confirm the chronic process of overexploitation that many fish stocks are suffering in the Canary Islands (Bas et al, ; Castro et al, ; García‐Cabrera, ; Riera et al, ), which is more evident in species of the highest trophic levels of the bentho‐demersal ecosystems.…”