In this project, the Vigo Shipowners’ Cooperative (ARVI), together with the Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute (BDRI), will address the interaction of the purse seine fleet with cetaceans in the usual fishing grounds, maintaining the same starting point identified in EcoCerco I, but incorporating a change of approach based on objective monitoring and integrated analysis of information. To this end, visual recording systems will be implemented using on-board cameras and on-board scientific observation will be reinforced, in order to document in a traceable way the episodes of interaction, their typology and their frequency in real fishing conditions.

The data generated will be integrated into a spatiotemporal analysis (GIS) aimed at identifying areas and periods of greater incidence, providing useful evidence to support more effective and adaptive management measures. In addition, the project will incorporate the quantification of the socio-economic impact associated with these interactions (damage to gear, catch losses and/or operational alterations) and the analysis of possible ways of compensating shipowners, based on objective criteria and a legal feasibility study.

The ultimate goal is to have robust and applicable information that contributes to making the viability of purse seine fishing compatible with the conservation of cetaceans, reinforcing sector-science-management collaboration and the transfer of results.