Harvest Strategies for an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management in Western Mediterranean Demersal Fisheries

Antoni Quetglas,Enric Massutí,Beatriz Guijarro,Antoni M Grau,Gorka Merino,Gorka Merino,Pere Oliver,Francesc Ordines,Antoni Garau,Javier González

doi:10.3389/fmars.2017.00106

Abstract

The serious overfishing of most Mediterranean stocks demands urgent reforms of the management measures aiming to guarantee the sustainability of resources, notably when compared with the improvement observed in other European areas. The new EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) constitutes an excellent opportunity to introduce the changes needed for such a reform. According to this CFP, all European fish stocks should be brought to a state where they can produce at MSY by 2020 at the latest. The CFP also establishes that the objective of sustainable exploitation should be achieved through multiannual plans (MAPs) adopted in consultation with relevant stakeholders having fisheries management interests such as fishermen, nongovernmental organizations and policy makers. Together with the MSY and MAP approaches, the new CFP contains several other measures, directed to guarantee the ecological and socio-economic sustainability of fisheries by means of the implementation of the ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAFM). With this new perspective, the CFP wants to avoid past failures of fisheries management based on monospecific approaches. This study is a first step towards the application of the EAFM in the Balearic Islands by means of the development of a harvest strategy with defined objectives, targets, limits and clear management control rules aimed at optimizing socioeconomic and ecological objectives in the framework of the new CFP. Different management scenarios designed to achieve that goal were modelled for the main demersal commercial fisheries from the study area, the bottom trawl and small-scale fisheries. The work begins with a general description of those fisheries, their main fishing grounds and assessments of the exploitation status of the main target stocks in order to establish the current situation. Secondly, alternative management scenarios to maximize catch and profits while considering societal objectives were evaluated by means of bio-economic models. Thirdly, management measures were provided based on the previous modelling and discussions with stakeholders. Finally, a monitoring scheme was outlined to assess the progresses of the proposed management actions. This work is intended to be a working example of co-management (fishers, policy-makers and scientists) in the Mediterranean in the framework of the new EU CFP.

Highlights

As stated in the Regulation No 1380/2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the European Union (EU) should ensure that the exploitation of marine resources restores and maintains stocks above levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by 2015 whenever possible or by 2020 at the latest
The regional implementation plan (RIP) for the Balearic Islands was developed during the 4 years of the Myfish project (2012– 2015) in tight collaboration between the scientists working in the project and the main local stakeholders involved in fisheries management: (i) the Fishermen Association; and (ii) the General Directorate of Fisheries of the Government
The non-governmental organization (NGO) Oceana published a report entitled Proposal for a responsible fishing in the Balearic Islands (Carreras and Cornax, 2011) in the form of five different leaflets including: (i) a global view of the local fisheries; (ii) recreational fisheries; (iii) small-scale fisheries; (iv) marine protected areas; and (v) bottom trawl fisheries. This material has been analyzed and some proposals included in the RIP, which is underpinned by the four main pillars of fisheries management (Aanesen et al, 2014; Röckmann et al, 2015): scientists, fishermen, policy-makers, and NGOs

Summary

Introduction

As stated in the Regulation No 1380/2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the European Union (EU) should ensure that the exploitation of marine resources restores and maintains stocks above levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by 2015 whenever possible or by 2020 at the latest. Based on these figures and the fact that recreational fishing shares with the SSF some of its main target species, it is essential to incorporate information on catches of this fleet when assessing and managing fishery resources from the Balearic Islands.

Results

Conclusion