Premium small scale: the trap fishery for Plesionika narval (Decapoda, Pandalidae) in the eastern Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Small-scale fisheries (SSFs) constitute a substantial component of European fisheries and have a high socioeconomic importance, especially for remote insular areas. Traps produce catches of high quality and value, associated with limited bycatch and low habitat impact. Long-standing trap SSFs in both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic showcase the potential of such SSFs to support remote fishing communities; however, trap SSFs remain relatively understudied. Here, we investigate the spatial and temporal dynamics of a Greek trap SSF targeting Plesionika narval (Fabricius, 1787) in the eastern Mediterranean, by means of Generalized Additive Models fitted on fishers' logbook data from 2005 to 2014. The dynamics of both catch per unit effort (CPUE) and profits suggest a pronounced seasonality for this fishery, while there are also signs of local overexploitation in the traditional fishing grounds. Additionally, small vessels (\ 12 m) report higher CPUEs than larger vessels. Our results point to management measures that could improve the sustainability of this valuable SSF, such as changes in the spatial and temporal allocation of fishing effort, and in fleet composition. The insights gained from this study are relevant to other localized trap SSFs and illustrate Handling editor: Begoña Santos

Shrimp trap selectivity in a Mediterranean small-scale-fishery

“…The fishery is prosecuted by smallscale trap fishery vessels (5 to 15 m length overall, LOA), from dusk to dawn with baited shrimp traps at depths ranging from 5 m to 200 m, deployed close to the bottom (Kalogirou et al, 2017). The vast majority of vessels are smaller than 12 m. and square or round traps with a mesh size of 8 to 12 mm are used (Vasilakopoulos et al, 2018).…”

“…Depending on vessel size and trap capacity, number of traps can vary from 15 to 250 traps (Kalogirou et al, 2015;Vasilakopoulos et al, 2015). This relatively abundant species represents approximately 85% of the total catch; the remaining percentage mainly consists of bycatch Plesionika edwardsii and Octopus vulgaris and discards (Kalogirou et al, 2015).…”

Pots as alternative and sustainable fishing gears in the Mediterranean Sea: an overview

“…Traditional pot fisheries play an important role in some countries. In North Africa and Spain the clay pots called gargoulettes, alcatrucez or cadups are employed since ancient times to catch common octopus (Lamboeuf 2001;Urbistondo 2001;Tsangridis et al 2002;Chédia et al 2010), whereas in Greece and Spain traditional round or square pots are used to catch Narwal shrimp, Plesionika narval (García-Rodriguez et al 2000;Maravelias et al 2018;Vasilakopoulos et al 2019). Traditional pot fisheries targeting changeable nassa and cuttlefish are also widespread on the Italian side of the Adriatic Sea (Grati et al 2010;Melli et al 2014).…”

That’s All I Know: Inferring the Status of Extremely Data-Limited Stocks

“…Samples were collected in the Dodecanese archipelago (southeastern Aegean Sea) (Figure 1) from October 2014 to October 2015 on a monthly basis (except of February 2015 due to adverse weather conditions), under the framework of PLESIONIKA MANAGE project. PLESIONIKA MANAGE studied the biology and exploitation of Plesionika narval, a valuable fishery resource in the area (Kalogirou et al, 2017;Maravelias et al, 2018;Vasilakopoulos et al, 2019). P. edwardsii was a commercial bycatch of the fishery for P. narval, far less valuable than the targeted congeneric species.…”