Socioeconomic and biological causes of management failures in European artisanal fisheries: the case of Galicia (NW Spain)

Abstract

Coastal ecosystems and artisanal "sheries show a great complexity due to the high number of human factors that in#uence their functioning and to the number of components involved in the "shing activity. Moreover, a great number of stocks exploited by coastal artisanal "sheries are invertebrates with a strong and persistent spatial structure and a population dynamics that do not "t the "n"sh models. The present state of the artisanal coastal "sheries in Galicia (NW Spain) is analyzed, presenting di!erent symptoms of a general state of overexploitation derived from the mismatch between management (derived from models designed for industrial "n"sheries) and the biological and socioeconomic context. We propose to modify the strategies of research to use inexpensive and rapid methodologies and introduce the "shers' ecological knowledge. A new management policy is outlined based in the establishment of territorial users' rights, the involvement of "shers in the assessment and management process, and the use of protected areas and minimum sizes as key regulation tools.

Assessing the impact of spear fishing by using competitions records and underwater visual censuses

“…In Galicia, as in the rest of the European seas (Froese and Proelß 2010), there is growing concern regarding the long-term sustainability of local fish stocks (Freire and García-Allut 2000, Freire et al 2002. In this regard, it must be noted that of the 29 species targeted by this recreational fishery only C. conger supports a large commercial fishing effort (Pita et al 2008).…”

“…Furthermore, approximately 500 spear fishers participate each year in spearfishing competitions, but to date there is no information on their impact on the coastal ecosystems. Moreover, the coastal fish communities of Galicia have also been traditionally exploited by a very heterogeneous multi-gear commercial fleet using mainly trawls, longlines, gillnets and purse seines (Freire and García-Allut 2000). Many of these coastal fisheries are currently mismanaged and overexploited (Freire and García-Allut 2000, Freire et al 2002.…”

“…Moreover, the coastal fish communities of Galicia have also been traditionally exploited by a very heterogeneous multi-gear commercial fleet using mainly trawls, longlines, gillnets and purse seines (Freire and García-Allut 2000). Many of these coastal fisheries are currently mismanaged and overexploited (Freire and García-Allut 2000, Freire et al 2002. Therefore, it is important to obtain information on the effects of the spear fishery in order to manage the ecosystems comprehensively by developing integrated coastal management plans (Lloret and Font 2013).…”

Demographic and socio-economic changes in the coastal fishing community of India

“…Small-scale fisheries employ nearly 50 million people worldwide, i.e., about 99% of the global strength of the fishermen, virtually all of them are from developing countries (Berkes et al, 2001;Van Santen 2003), contributing 40% of the world's annual marine and inland fish catch (Whitmarsh et al, 2000). Freire and Allut (2000) pointed out that the small-scale coastal fisheries have a greater social significance than industrial fishery. However, yet smallscale fisheries have been neglected and marginalised over the years, in both developing and developed countries, leading to great deprivations to the people who depend on the fisheries (Berkes et al, 2001).…”

Untitled

“…Artisanal fisheries are small-scale fisheries where fishers use traditional fishing techniques and small boats for the sake of subsistence living and to meet the demands of small local markets (Freire & Garcı́ a, 2000). The term is used interchangeably with thé'smalĺscaléfishery,'́and́sometimeśconsidered́asá́s ubset́of́'smalĺscale' (Demuynck, 1994).…”