Line of action:

Status:

Execution date:

General Objective:

Analysis of sustainability and improvement of the management of artisanal fisheries.

Specific objectives:

1. To create synergies between management entities and artisanal fishermen in the ES0000083 area.
2. To define the historical and global perspective of artisanal fisheries in the Natura 2000 area ES0000083.
3. Evaluate the sustainability of artisanal fisheries based on their catches.
4. Formulate proposals for improving fisheries management and monitoring within the Natura 2000 ES0000083 area.
5. Dissemination of results and awareness-raising actions.

The project has held meetings with managers of the affected areas, including the General Directorate of Rural and Marine Affairs of the Government of the Balearic Islands as the management body of the Migjorn Marine Reserve of Mallorca; the administration of the Maritime-Terrestrial National Park of the Cabrera Archipelago and the Balearic Federation of Fishermen’s Guilds, in order to generate agreements and share the information generated for the substantial improvement of fishing monitoring in the area.

All the existing historical information has been compiled in the various headquarters of the collaborating entities of the project, obtaining a large volume of data. In summary, it has been possible to access data from the General Directorate of Rural and Marine Affairs for the last 16 years with a history of sales notes that has amounted to 32,547 notes; data from the National Park administration for the last 14 years on catch communications in the National Park (a total of 5,306 communications) and data from the Balearic Federation of Fishermen’s Guilds for the last 7 years on weekly authorisations for fishing in the Park (a total of 416 sheets), in addition to the update of an Access database.

From its analysis, the following conclusions have been obtained:

• The fleet of small gear in the Balearic Islands and the fleet of the Sant Jordi colony has decreased. The average number of fishing days per year per boat is 75, a figure that remains stable throughout the period 2002-2017.

• Taking into account that, historically, in the Balearic Islands, artisanal fishing is in many cases combined with other economic activities, and in view of the data analysed, it can be said that the professionalism of the sector is increasing.

• The total biomass captured decreases over the years, while the evolution of the economic performance of the activity improves and, with it, the sustainability of the activity.

• Regarding the evolution of the species caught, data relating to the SAC Archipelago of Cabrera and the National Park have been presented separately. There is a trend towards an increase in the catch of three species: dentex, grouper and lobster. The yellowtail decreases in the SAC and grows within the Park, unlike the musola and the scorpionfish, which grow in the SAC as a whole and fall in the Park. Monkfish, squid, squid and red mullet decrease their presence in the catch over the years in general.

• In relation to the social aspects, it was not possible to obtain information on the affiliation to Social Security of the fishermen who fish in the study area. Consequently, it has not been possible to assess some previous social aspects, such as the number of workers dedicated to the activity and its evolution over time.

Five measures are proposed aimed at improving the management of artisanal fishing in the area of the CASC Archipelago of Cabrera:

• Continue the transition to monitoring through new technologies (green boxes). The Directorate-General for Rural and Marine Affairs has begun the process of implementing green boxes and new weighing machines that incorporate more complete information.

• Unify the commercial categories used by the Palma fish market for the sale of catches with the species identified in the Cabrera fishing sheets.

• Change the communication format (to Excel file) of the weekly licenses by the Federation of Fishermen’s Guilds of the Balearic Islands to the administration of the National Park and update the database of the PNMT of Cabrera.

• Improve the communication of catches within the National Park, attaching the transport document generated by the weighing machine.

• Increase feedback between fishermen and administration.

In this way, it is proposed to provide the basic tools for fisheries monitoring of marine protected areas, without the need for paper communications. Undoubtedly, the joint work of the Park’s administration, the General Directorate and the fishing sector will be necessary for this initiative to be consolidated and carried out.