Line of action:

Marine ecosystems

Status:

Finalizado

Execution date:

2021

Coastal wetlands provide countless benefits and ecosystem services to humanity, such as the regulation of water and nutrient cycles or water supply, but also the conservation of biodiversity and the provision of food, as they are home to species of fishing interest, including some threatened species such as the European eel.

These spaces, which are especially important in arid and semi-arid areas, and the species that inhabit them, suffer different pressures, such as that exerted by different uses, which causes alteration and fragmentation of the ecosystem, and even its disappearance due to occupation, invasive alien species (IAS) or the effects derived from climate change or pollution.

Main objectives:

• To expand the available information on sensitive species of fishing interest, highlighting the European eel and the different species of mullet present, as well as some threats they face in protected coastal wetlands.
• To reduce the incidence of some of the problems through demonstrative actions with the support of traditional fishing methods, awareness-raising, social participation and management proposals.

The main actions are:

• Monitoring of fish stocks of fishing interest.
• Threat assessment
• Control of invasive alien species
• Dissemination and awareness of the local population
• Social participation
• Management proposals

The wetlands of the Iberian southeast are the habitat of sensitive species of fishing interest such as the European eel, considered Critically Endangered Worldwide (CR, IUCN), or the mugilids. Despite being part of the Natura 2000 Network, these species encounter numerous threats in these wetlands. With GePescArt, new information has been provided that improves the knowledge of the eel in the wetlands of the southeast, continuing with that already provided in the GePeSang project, which allows management proposals to be made to ensure its long-term conservation.

One of the most innovative actions of the project has been the experimental control of an invasive exotic species, carp, by means of artisanal fishermen. The action has been carried out in the El Hondo reservoirs, where, like many coastal Mediterranean wetlands, carp is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss in these ecosystems, due to the fact that they cause turbidity in the water, preventing the entry of sunlight and, therefore, the development of macrophytes and macroinvertebrates on which many species depend. This also affects native species of fish such as eel or moolidae. During the action , about 30 tons of this species have been removed from the reservoirs, which has been achieved through the hiring of artisanal fishermen from the Mar Menor.

Through the samplings carried out in the fish market, the information from previous projects on the distribution, phenology and biology of the eel in the Mar Menor has been completed, where the species faces strong fishing pressure that could be the cause of its decline. In the south of Alicante, information on the presence of eels and mogulians in the wetlands and in the wide network of azarbes that connect these wetlands with the sea has also been improved. A great deal of effort has been made to identify and characterize the barriers that prevent or hinder eel migrations, which are necessary for them to complete their reproduction.

Compliance with the European framework regulations for eel management has been evaluated in two regional management plans: that of the region of Murcia and the Valencian community. Its subsequent regional regulations have also been reviewed. In both, significant non-compliances and deficiencies have been found. Proposals to correct both plans and to improve the management of the species have been described, based on the main recommendations of international research groups.

Finally, it has been possible to involve the local population through awareness-raising actions, environmental education and volunteering, in which the species of the project have been made known as well as the main threats they face.

You can watch the video of the project at the following link.

The project has the collaboration of Riegos de Levante, WWF-Spain, the Research Group of Basic Zoology and Applied to Management and Conservation of the Department of Zoology of the University of Murcia, the Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE) of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the Local Action Group for Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Region of Murcia (GALPEMUR) and with the support of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Service of the Ministry of Water, Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Region of Murcia and the El Hondo Natural Park.