Line of action:

Status:

Execution date:

General Objective:

Creation in three Autonomous Communities of a common network of fishery, environmental and socio-economic data of the fisheries that carry out their activity within the Natura 2000 Network.

Specific objectives:

1. The development of a common methodology for the creation of the data network of the fishermen’s guilds of three autonomous communities: Palamós (Catalonia), San Pedro del Pinatar (Murcia) and Motril (Andalusia).
2. Development of a methodology for locating and environmental monitoring of nursery areas.
3. Exchange of knowledge, replication and evaluation of those successful actions between the three brotherhoods.
4. To share synergies and seek common solutions to the problems of the Mediterranean fishing sector, so that it can be replicated in other guilds in order to achieve the environmental sustainability of Mediterranean fisheries.
5. Maintain and feed the knowledge network, disseminate the knowledge generated to the rest of society and actors involved in the fishing sector.

The COFRAREDMED project has generated a network made up of technical experts (biologists, engineers, consultants) and fishermen (senior skippers, representatives and shipowners) from the three guilds. This network has allowed the exchange of knowledge about fishing activity in the Natura Network area (e.g. l’Empordà marine area, Tabarca – Cabo de Palos marine area, submerged coastal strip Murcia Region, Escarpe de Mazarrón underwater valleys, South of Almeria – Seco de los Olivos): demographic structure of the target species caught (red shrimp, white shrimp, red mullet) and according to the type of gear (trawling and trammel netting) and the impact of fishing activity on protected species and ecological interest.

Existing information on artisanal fisheries has been compiled and sampling and standardization statistics have been designed. The sampling method used was random, collecting a random amount for each species and by commercial category, with subsequent biometric analysis. Information on the yields of the exploitation of the target species has been obtained from the values of the catch per unit effort (C.P.U.E.). Sampling of commercial catches has been carried out periodically and the spatial and temporal size distribution of fry and individuals below the legal size has been determined. From this analysis, we highlight:

– Protected species: fishing activity in its trawling and trammel trawling modalities in Palamós has no impact on protected species. In Motril, turtles are caught occasionally with trawl gear, which are returned alive to the sea. In San Pedro del Pinatar, on the Mar Menor, with minor gear, seahorse (Hippocampus ramulosus) frequently appears, which is returned alive to the sea.

– Exotic species: in San Pedro del Pinatar, in the Mar Menor, and in the adjacent area of the Mediterranean (mouth of the Segura River in Guardamar) the presence of the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) is becoming more and more frequent.

– Commercial species:

• The individuals caught of red mullet (Mullus surmuletus) by trammel gear, in the ports of Palamós and San Pedro del Pinatar, have a size greater than the legal minimum (11 cm), between 15 and 32 cm, with the largest sizes found in the port of Palamós.

• The results obtained of white mullet (Mullus barbatus) by the bottom trawl gear in the port of Motril have been as follows: the size of the individuals caught has varied between 12 and 28 cm (=17.6 cm) and no individuals have been caught below the minimum size (11 cm).

• For the species of red shrimp (Aristeus antennatus), caught with trawl gear in the port of San Pedro del Pinatar, the results show that the size of the individuals has varied between sexes (♀: 22-67 mm, ♂ : 21-39 mm), with the average being higher in females. There is no minimum size, since the average size exploited exceeds the size of first maturity and is two years old.

• For the white shrimp species (Parapenaeus longirostris), caught with trawl gear, in the ports of Palamós and Motril, the results have been as follows: the size of the individuals has varied between sexes (♀: 22-47 mm, : ♂ 24-33 mm), with the largest size in females (: 33.2 cm).

The intention of the three brotherhoods is to maintain the network in the coming years, so that it can continue its journey in the exchange and transfer of knowledge, as well as in the adhesion of new entities.