Line of action:

Status:

Execution date:

General Objective:

Implementation of innovative cooperation measures between fishermen and scientists for better management of artisanal fisheries, with the aim of mitigating their impacts on sensitive marine habitats.

Specific objectives:

• Implementation of innovative measures to mitigate the impacts of artisanal fisheries
• Implementation of innovative measures for the better management and use of non-target and emblematic species caught
• Monitoring the status of fisheries after 4 years and assessing the status of unexplored fisheries
• Awareness-raising and enhancement campaigns for the marine environment carried out jointly by fishermen and scientists
• Dissemination of the project and the results

1. Joint coordination meetings between fishers and scientists
2. Meetings to evaluate the results of joint mitigation activities between fishers and scientists
3. Introduction of innovative structural variations in two trammel nets for catching lobster in the Cap de Creus Natural Park
4. Introduction of innovative structural variations in a trammel net for catching lobster in the Natural Park of Ses Salines D’Eivissa i Formentera
5. Use of underwater robotics for the assessment of damage caused to the bottom during net collection operations
6. Transfer of knowledge to the brotherhoods of the Islands of Ibiza and Formentera
7. Implementation of mitigation measures: experimental fishing Cap de Creus
8. Implementation of innovative measures to take advantage of discards
9. Management plan for emblematic species caught accidentally: Marking and return of individuals of Charonia lampas
10. Monitoring of the status of fisheries after 5 years and assessment of the status of previously explored and unexplored fisheries
11. Raising awareness and enhancing the value of natural heritage through the recovery of lost fishing gear in conjunction with the local population
12. Dissemination of press releases
13. Making promotional t-shirts for the project and informative video
14. Dissemination of the project on digital portals
15. Dissemination of the project on social networks
16. Holding of informative days of the project

The MitiCap project is a project for the implementation of innovative cooperation measures between fishermen and scientists for better management of artisanal fisheries with the aim of mitigating their impacts on sensitive marine habitats. This project culminates after 5 years of collaborative work with artisanal fishermen from Port de la Selva, with the participation of some artisanal fishermen from Formentera in 2022. This culminates in the transfer of knowledge and success of the measures previously tested in the community of Catalonia.

The main objective of the project these 5 years has been to test different types of variations in the trammel nets that fishermen traditionally used to catch lobster. The main objective was to reduce the impact on non-commercial species by reducing their bycatch while maintaining the commercial catch. Of all the measures tested, the one that has worked best has been the extension of the mesh span to 2.5. With this new measure, it was seen that the commercial pieces caught were larger and therefore of greater commercial value and in addition, accidental capture was reduced. The success of these pilot tests led artisanal fishermen to change all their nets in the following season for ones with a larger mesh size than the traditional one.

Despite trying to reduce the fishing impact as much as possible, one of the most accidentally caught species is the Astrospartus mediterraneus brittle. Close contact with fishermen and trips to the sea with them has allowed the scientific verification of the exponential increase in the population in recent years, which has led to a scientific publication (Biel et al. 2023). In 2022, from the beginning of the trammel fishing season, April to August 2022, a total of 124.5 kg have been caught. This amount has been used to make a fertilizer for crops complemented with this ofiura species. Thanks to the chemical analyses carried out on this fertilizer, it was possible to verify that the fertilizer contains similar characteristics to many of those that are marketed, standing out for its high potassium content. In such a way, the reuse of this discard species could be really positive for an economy of absolute profit from the fish catch. On the other hand, the collaborative work with artisanal fishermen from Port de la Selva and Cadaqués also made it possible to study the species Charonia lampas, a species of gastropod about which there is very little information. The fishermen, every time they accidentally caught one of these individuals, wrote down the coordinates and brought it to port for tagging, photographed and weighed. Thus, a total of 13 individuals were tagged in 2022 and it was even possible to verify that there may be recapture of the already tagged individuals, since there were two
recaptures during the summer season. This may lead to a long-term survival and growth study if funding is found for it.

In the development of the MitiCap project, the benthic ecosystems of the artisanal fishing grounds have also been monitored through the use of underwater robotics in the marine area of Cap de Creus. The study covers a bathymetric range between 11 and 87 m deep and a total of 5 fishing grounds: Cala Bona, Cala Jugadora, Isla Mesina, Portaló and Maça d’Or. The monitoring allowed quantifying the abundance, diversity and spatial distribution of the structuring macrofauna (strictly benthic sessile organisms) and the mobile macrofauna associated with the structuring, as well as the description of the substrate. In addition, a temporal comparison could be made between 2018 and 2022 of one of the fishing grounds, specifically that of the Maça d’Or.

Another of the objectives of the project has been to raise awareness and revaluation of the marine environment and for this purpose various fishing gear collection days were organized. All kinds of volunteers participated in these days, from the fishermen themselves, to local people or tourists from the area and interested biologists. In total, 54 volunteers participated in the two days held in the 2022 season and 32 lost pots, 1 trammel and 1 longline were removed, as well as 40 kg of plastics from the beaches around Port de la Selva. In addition to these conferences, theoretical and practical workshops and talks were also held for all types of groups to raise awareness among citizens. In this way, reaching a total of 289 people, who were able to learn thanks to these workshops the different types of fishing that exist, what sustainable fishing is and how they can get involved in this sense from the consumer’s side. In addition, during the development of the project, all the activities were disseminated through social networks, radio and newspapers. Miticap has reached a total of 1059 followers, adding the three social networks par excellence, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. A number that continues to increase after the official end of the projects. In addition, several news related to the results of the project have become part of newspapers such as Empordà, Diari de Ibiza and Diari de Girona. In addition, we participate in a radio program in Cap de Creus and Televisión Española has also echoed our project. We even participated in a documentary series on a Franco-German channel, ARTE.tv. Therefore, without a doubt, we highlight the success in terms of the dissemination of the project.

Finally, it should be noted that projects such as MitiCap, in which fishermen and scientists go hand in hand, are very necessary to achieve a sustainable future. We must remember that to conserve the sea you have to know it and that, to do this, you have to go out to sea as fishermen do every day. The transfer of knowledge from fishermen to the scientific sector is crucial for a greater understanding of the marine environment, which is essential to be able to create regulations that are truly beneficial for the conservation of marine ecosystems and therefore, for the sustainability of fisheries.

The video summary of the MITICAP project can be viewed at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAYDmIZ_M3w