– The release has been carried out during the second research campaign developed in the project, which has explored the seabed of 15 areas closed to fishing on the Catalan coast.
– The released organisms come from accidental catches in fishing nets and have been recovered in aquariums located in fishermen’s associations.
The LIFE ECOREST project, coordinated by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) and in which the Fundación Biodiversidad del Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico (MITECO) participates as a partner, has released more than 250 organisms accidentally caught in nets during fishing activity and which have been rescued by fishermen and recovered in the aquariums installed in the different fishermen’s associations.
Specifically, 143 gorgonians of the species Eunicella cavolini, Eunicella singularis and Leptogorgia sarmentosa, 106 soft corals of the species Alcyonium palmatum and some bryozoans have been returned to the sea. The organisms were released into the natural environment in the areas of Vilanova i la Geltrú, Palamós and Arenys de Mar, at a depth of between 90 and 140 meters. In addition, in Vilanova it was possible to verify the successful survival of these organisms after visualizing, through a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV), that the gorgonians had settled correctly on the bottom.
This action has been carried out during the second oceanographic campaign of the project, in which the research teams of the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) and the University of Barcelona have participated with the aim of collecting information on the seabed of 15 areas closed to fishing located on the Catalan coast, areas of action of the project, and to release the specimens recovered in the fishermen’s guilds.
During a month-long campaign, 34 ROV dives have been carried out to perform visual inspections of these areas, which amount to 80 linear kilometers, as well as of nearby control areas.
In a preliminary assessment, the scientific team has observed differences between the current fishing zones and those that have been closed for more than a year. In the former, the seabed is smoother and with marks of fishing gear, while in the protected areas a natural three-dimensionality has been observed, created by the fauna that inhabits the seabed, which is also more abundant.
IMAGES FOR FOLLOW-UP
During the first campaign, conducted in October 2022, the scientific team anchored a Lander, a structure that incorporates a camera and various environmental sensors. It is a quantitative and non-invasive sampling system that is positioned on the bottom and works statically and autonomously during different time intervals. In this case, the Lander has remained at anchor in an area of soft substrates for about six months and has been recovered during this second campaign. Their mission has been to take images of the bottom every 30 minutes, which will be processed and analyzed by the scientific team in the coming months to understand the temporal dynamics and interactions between different species.
Monitoring of the released species will also be carried out via video, both with an ROV and an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), in the next campaigns. The next one will take place during the month of June with the objective of anchoring the Lander again, continuing with the return of the organisms collected in the different fisheries and with the exploration of the 15 closed areas, this time with an autonomous vehicle.
LIFE ECOREST
In the project area, along the Barcelona and Girona coastline, it is estimated that more than 90% of the seabed between 50 and 800 meters deep shows signs of degradation, which hinders the regeneration of natural resources. This area is considered a point of great ecological importance due to the high concentration of endangered, threatened or vulnerable species, including corals and gorgonians.
Therefore, until 2026, the program of actions of the LIFE ECOREST project will serve to try to improve the conservation status of deep-sea habitats and demonstrate the effectiveness of participatory management of the fishing sector.
This initiative, coordinated by the ICM-CSIC, has as partners the Federation of Fishermen’s Guilds of Girona, the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, the University of Barcelona and WWF Spain, as well as the financial contribution of the LIFE Program of the European Union.
