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To increase knowledge of breeding, wintering and migratory seabird communities in the Arctic Gulf, and to lay the foundations for their protection.

The actions developed in the project have served to update the census of the shag-bred breeding population and the population census of European storm petrels; to define for the first time the marine space used by the European Shag and the Balearic Shearwater, determining the priority areas for their conservation; generate scientific information about the species in terms of its reproductive parameters, selection of feeding habitat, etc.; to advance in the joint and comprehensive management of this territory, initiating a participatory process, and to develop a basis for the declaration of a SPA in the Ártabro Gulf.

As a result of the Aves Ártabras project, a final report has been prepared from which the following conclusions can be drawn:

• The Aves Ártabras project was a participatory experience to generate the proposal for the declaration of a marine protected area.

• The importance of the Golfo Ártabro has been identified as a key area for the European shag, with more than 200 breeding pairs, which represents 14% of the population of the aristotelian subspecies in the Iberian Peninsula.

• The main area of concentration of Galician storm petrel colonies is located in this territory, although during the project a significant decline in the breeding population of the species has been detected.

• The waters of the Gulf are home to post-breeding concentrations that concern more than 1% of the global population of Balearic shearwater, the most endangered seabird in Europe, and are used during migratory passage by significant contingents of the European and global populations of 10 species of seabirds.

• This ornithological richness coexists with an intense socio-economic activity linked to the coastal and marine environment, characterised in the project, but no interactions or impacts have been detected that have a significant impact on these populations. This would explain their good health and highlight the sustainability and compatibility of human activities in the Arctic Gulf with the conservation of seabirds.

• During the process, 116 people participated representing up to 30 entities of the social and administrative fabric of the Golfo Ártabro, belonging to the productive, tourism, sports/recreational, social/NGO, academic and administrative sectors (local, regional and state), achieving a high degree of support for the project.
• Thanks to the collaboration with the local artisanal fishing sector, it was possible to determine the compatibility of its activity with the conservation of the shag, concluding a low incidence of mortality in gillnets due to the gears, techniques and areas of draft of these gears in relation to the feeding areas of the species.

• The application of self-regulated practices by the fleet has been identified that imply greater sustainability and economic performance and lower mortality, which should be recognized and serve to value the traditional inshore sector of this territory.

• Among the dissemination activities, the development of an informative video and a news item on the publication of the final report that is linked to the entity’s website stands out.

• As a final result of the project, the document Bases for the declaration of a SPA in the Golfo Ártabro is presented, in which the delimitation of a Special Protection Area for Seabirds in the Golfo Ártabro is proposed, which includes a proposal for basic management measures, mainly related to public use, maritime traffic and the reduction of the risk of mortality in gillnets.