Description:

The project pursues the development and implementation of innovative measures aimed at generating more environmentally sustainable fisheries in the Gulf of Cadiz SPA, with the direct involvement of the fishing sector at the regional level.

The project is currently in its first phase, in which action will be taken in three main lines:

• Mitigate bycatch of seabirds and other vertebrates in different fishing gears
• Develop a pilot program for the environmental management of marine litter
• Evaluate and propose management measures for fishing discards in the fisheries of the Gulf of Cadiz

To this end, more than 30 embarkations in different fishing gears have been scheduled, as well as meetings and interviews with the different brotherhoods and associations that represent the fishing sector of the Gulf of Cadiz. The results of the project aim to help the fishing sector in its day-to-day work, while at the same time being transferable to the field of fisheries management, both at national and European level, through workshops and conferences on sustainable fishing, which will bring together fishermen, fisheries managers, researchers, conservation entities and opinion leaders.

One of the most important elements of the ECOFISH project will be the participation of the fishing sector, so that the results obtained really reflect the main needs, concerns and problems seen from the sea. This participation is guaranteed, in addition to the participation of the Fishermen’s Guild of Sanlúcar de Barrameda as a partner, with the support of other agents of the fishing sector of the Gulf of Cadiz, such as the Federation of Fishing Guilds of the Province of Cadiz (FECOPESCA), the Local Fishing Action Groups (GALP) of Cadiz Northwest and the Strait of Gibraltar and the Association of Owners of Purse Seine Fishing Vessels of Sanlúcar (CERCO-PESCA), as well as conservation entities such as SEO/BirdLife or WWF.

In short, with the sector involved in solving problems and improving the environmental sustainability of fishing, it is intended to give a leading role to fishermen and, thus demonstrating the role of the sector in the search for solutions with innovative measures for environmentally sustainable fishing in the Gulf of Cadiz.

See the project.