Line of action:

Status:

Execution date:

General:

To raise awareness, both in the sector and in society in general, about the importance of environmental sustainability, the protection and conservation of the biological resources of protected areas and the recovery of marine biodiversity.

Specific:

1. To generate knowledge about the biological and ecological importance of shellfish banks, associated with a specific area.

2. Generate training material for shellfish gatherers so that they can raise awareness among schoolchildren.

3. Generate awareness-raising material for schoolchildren on the importance of protecting the ecosystem, focusing on shellfish areas.

4. Generate a transferable method for the training of shellfish gatherers and awareness of schoolchildren.

A1- Actions for the collection of information and analysis of the same:

– Information will be collected on the shellfish areas included in the Ría de Vigo: main exploited species, habitats/species of special protection in the estuary, impact of other activities on shellfish banks and possible environmental risks.

– The information collected will be analysed in order to generate a compilation report that will serve as a starting point for awareness-raising.

A2- Actions for the training of shellfish gatherers so that they can give awareness courses to schoolchildren:

– Generation of the content for the training from the report generated in the A1 and design of the training material for the shellfish gatherers.

– Signing of an agreement with at least 3 Brotherhoods for the training of shellfish gatherers in a second edition of SENSIMAR (2021)

A3- Actions to raise awareness among schoolchildren about the importance of ecosystem protection:

– Design of the awareness-raising material for schoolchildren based on that generated for shellfish gatherers, but understandable in a simpler and more visual way.

– Signing of an agreement with at least 2 schools in the area affected by the study to raise awareness among schoolchildren in a second edition of SENSIMAR (2021)

A4- Transfer Actions to other Guilds/Associations of shellfish gatherers in other Autonomous Communities:

– Design and establishment of a transfer plan.

– Signing of an Agreement with Entities of the shellfish sector from other autonomous communities for transfer in a second edition of SENSIMAR (2021)

A5- Dissemination actions:

– Enabling a space on the Fundamar website with information about the project

– Project dissemination day.

– Press releases at the beginning and end of the project.

– Dissemination on Fundamar’s website and social networks.

For the development of the project, firstly, information was collected from the six target shellfish areas in the Ría de Vigo: Cangas, Moaña, Vilaboa, Arcade, Redondela and Vigo. Subsequently, personal surveys were carried out with workers of the guilds in the areas studied to find out the current state of shellfishing in the Ría de Vigo and the effects of the rest of the activities carried out on the coast.

With the information collected, a transferable work methodology and informative material was generated for associative entities in the shellfish sector and for educational centers, material focused on the importance of protecting shellfish areas and marine biodiversity for their sustainability, with the aim of increasing environmental awareness and promoting ecological awareness among shellfish gatherers and the child population in general. Among the training material, several posters on shared uses of the estuary, factors that affect shellfishing in a negative way or a leaflet on environmental protection figures stand out. In this sense, agreements were signed for the training of professionals with the San Francisco de Vigo Fishermen’s Association, the San Cipriano de Aldán Fishermen’s Association, the Arcade Fishermen’s Association and the Arcade Shellfish Gatherers Association.

For schoolchildren, an interactive magnetic map was developed, which allows working on the shared uses of the space where the shellfish activity is carried out, and a card game to work on shellfish resources, the negative factors that affect them, solutions and figures of environmental protection. The educational centers of CEIP O Pombal, CEIP Canicouva and CEIP de Laredo participated in the training actions of the project.

Likewise, a plan was designed to transfer the project to other coastal areas, with the aim of taking advantage of the learning generated, the materials and possibilities of support in training in other areas with shellfish activity. In total, six agreements were signed with entities in the sector for transfer in four autonomous communities: the Amarcarril Shellfish Gathering Association, Foredunes, the Organization of Seafood Producers and Marine Crops of the province of Pontevedra (OPP20), the Maritime Port Union FESMC- UGT Andalusia, the Maritime Port Union FESMC- UGT Asturias and the Maritime Port Union FESMC- UGT Cantabria.