Line of action:

Status:

Execution date:

General:

Develop environmental measures in the Gulf of Cadiz to improve the conservation status of the Gulf of Cadiz SPA and achieve a more sustainable fishery.

Specific:

1. To strengthen the involvement of the fishing sector of the Gulf of Cadiz in the development of a sustainable fishery in the study area.

2. To expand the scope of the Programme for the Environmental Assessment and Management of Marine Litter (on board and in port) in fishing ports in the Gulf of Cadiz, promoting the direct involvement of the sector.

3. To expand knowledge about bycatch, bycatch and the interactions of apical marine predators with fishing activities.

4. To evaluate the incidence of plastic pollution in the food web of the Gulf of Cadiz.

5. To inform and raise awareness among the fishing sector and society in general of the need to develop measures to improve the environmental status of the SPA of the Gulf of Cadiz.

A.1.1 Contacts, meetings and collaboration agreements with the different actors in the regional fisheries sector (shipowners, guilds, federations and local fishing action groups).

A.1.2 Review of scientific, technical and regulatory documents on the impact of plastics on the environment and other aspects of importance for the execution of the project.

A.2.1. Strengthen and expand the participation of the fishing sector in the identification and evaluation of marine litter in the Gulf of Cadiz.

A.2.2. Development of a ‘Waste 0’ protocol in the ports of the study area by extending the protocol initiated in ECOFISH in Sanlúcar de Barrameda to other ports in the Gulf of Cadiz.

A.2.3. Characterization and mapping of marine litter in the Gulf of Cadiz.

A.3.1 Expand the study of by-catch and by-catch in the fishing sector in the study area, proposing innovative and effective measures in fishing actions that reduce the impact and extending it to new ports and guilds.

A.3.2 Apply bycatch mitigation measures to fishing vessels in the study area based on the results of the first phase of ECOFISH

A.3.3 Extend the assessment of discards in the fisheries of Sanlúcar de Barrameda and extend it to other ports in the Gulf of Cadiz.

A.3.4 Evaluate the effect of the attraction of discards in fisheries as a source of food for seabirds in the study area.

A.4.1 Assessment of the presence of plastics and marine litter in sea turtles.

A.4.2 Evaluation of the mortality of edged apical predators through coastal inspection campaigns.

A.5 Communication of the project

ECOFISH II has promoted the involvement of the fishing sector of the Gulf of Cadiz in the development of a sustainable fishery in the study area. The scope of the project has been expanded in this phase, with new boats involved in Sanlúcar, Conil and Tarifa, as well as new agreements with the shipowners’ association of the Port of Sta. María and the Local Fishing Council of Barbate.

On the one hand, 12 new shipments have been made to verify the role of fishing discards and their use by protected bird species, and a very low or practically anecdotal incidence of accidental bird catches in the fishing gear of the Gulf of Cadiz was observed, (no catch was recorded in the more than 50 shipments made throughout the project). The project has included, on this occasion, sport fishing boats, to evaluate their potential impact. Finally, we have participated in the Ecocadiz campaign, of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, to analyse the distribution patterns of seabirds and the adequacy of the limits of the SPA of the Gulf of Cadiz for their effective protection. As a result of these results, published in international scientific journals, an extension of the Gulf of Cadiz SPA has been proposed.

On the other hand, we have analysed the composition of discards from trawling in the Gulf of Cadiz, working together with the fishing sector to reduce them and promote their reuse. Within these actions, 11 outings have been carried out to characterise discards, analysing more than 325 kg of discards and counting more than 130 discarded species. Among the most abundant, the different species of horse mackerel, bream, boga and anchovy stand out.

Work has also continued on the assessment of marine litter with the collaboration of trawlers in the Gulf of Cadiz. In 13 shipments, 878 objects have been collected from the seabed, mostly (78%) plastics from domestic consumption, the most predominant being food wrappers, bags and sacks, fishing line and ropes, pieces of film and food packaging. Likewise, progress has been made in the implementation of the “Garbage 0” Protocol, with an initial diagnosis of the operational waste generated by vessels during fishing activities, in which three trawlers have participated. In addition, work has begun to assess the presence of plastics and marine litter in marine food webs in the Gulf of Cadiz. To this end, the stomach contents of four leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) and three loggerhead turtles (Caretta careta) have been analysed. In all of them, plastic remains have been found, most of them (more than 75%) microplastics.

In addition, a coastal inspection campaign has been carried out for the evaluation of shored marine vertebrates and litter and plastic in Camposoto (Bahía de Cádiz Natural Park), in addition to seven communication and dissemination actions, including the webinar on Sustainable Fishing in the Gulf of Cadiz, the presentation of the results of the ECOFISH II project in the Port of Bonanza (Sanlúcar de Barrameda) and the production of three thematic videos of the ECOFISH project on marine litter, fishing discards and incidental catches of seabirds.