The project “Conservation of ecosystems and sustainable artisanal fishing in the Mediterranean basin (ECOSAFIMED)” carried out in Spain, Italy and Tunisia has aimed to conserve marine biodiversity in the Mediterranean basin and promote artisanal fishing practices that make the protection of marine fauna compatible. To this end, an assessment of the state of benthic communities in different parts of the Mediterranean has been carried out, while the impact of some fishing métiers on benthic fauna has been studied, all in collaboration with fishermen, as well as with different national and international organizations.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, through the Biodiversity Foundation, has been the coordinator of this initiative, which has had other partners such as the Spanish National Research Council – Institute of Marine Sciences (Spain), the University of Genoa (Italy) and the National Institute of Marine Sciences and Technologies – INSTM (Tunisia). The collaboration between all these entities has been fundamental for the exchange of knowledge in marine research, both in methodologies and in the use of innovative technologies, one of the most significant results of the project.
Thanks to the ECOSAFIMED project, a proposal of good practices for the artisanal fleet has been developed in order to improve the conservation of benthic communities in the Mediterranean. The partners have agreed on a series of recommendations for the entire basin, based on the results obtained in different study areas: Cap de Creus, Menorca Channel (Spain), Galite archipelago, Esquerquis bank (Tunisia), Gulf of Patti and Ponza Archipelago (Italy).

These proposals have been agreed with the artisanal fishermen who have participated in the project with the intention of signing voluntary agreements by which they commit to adopt these good practices voluntarily and in the long term.
 
One of the recommendations resulting from the project has been to return the discards of benthic invertebrates and habitat-forming species to the water in a time of less than 30 minutes and in the same place where the capture has been made, as well as to avoid damaging them as far as possible. Scientific studies have shown that the survival of bycatch of benthic species increases if they are returned to the sea as soon as possible, thus reducing exposure to air and temperature changes.
 
Good practices also recommend avoiding fishing in areas where fragile communities have been detected, promoting fishing restriction zones where valuable and sensitive ecosystems have been found, or the use of more selective gear and more efficient net material, since there are experiments that show that the type of gear used plays a very important role in the magnitude of the impact it causes on the seabed.
 
Promoting the periodic maintenance of fishing nets, reducing the impact by reducing the number of fishing operations in the same location during the same season, or reducing the length of fishing gear, are also measures that reduce the impact that artisanal fishing has on benthic communities.
 
Finally, promoting the integration of the knowledge acquired by fishermen in scientific studies and monitoring activities is another of the recommendations that has made it possible to obtain this initiative. The long experience accumulated by fishermen over years of work has to be considered a fundamental source of information. Data on extraordinary catches, the appearance of rare species or the location of extensive populations of structural species or unusual details can be of great help in improving the scientific community’s knowledge of the seabed, allowing the identification of places with a high ecological value that can be considered as areas of special protection.
 
Finally, another of the recommendations derived from the project has been the production of videos that allow, in a simple and direct way, to raise awareness about the promotion of good fishing practices. Throughout this project, it has been confirmed that showing videos that clearly expose the scientific basis of certain claims, such as the existence of lost fishing gear, the survival of discarded species or the state of organisms once returned to the sea, get greater public attention and a more positive reception than any type of technical or graphic report. Videos should be considered as a priority communication tool and as a key element when proposing recommendations to fishermen.

The studies carried out within the framework of the project have also made it possible to identify areas of high ecological value that in the future may be subject to specific management that promotes their special protection.