New Equipment and Technologies Used for Rapa Whelk Harvesting at the Romanian Black Sea Coast

Abstract

An invasive species, the rapa whelk (Rapana venosa Valenciennes, 1846) was reported for the first time in the Black Sea in 1946 in the area of the Novorossysky Port, and, at the Romanian coast, back in 1963. Due to its excellent gourmet properties, rapa whelk has become the target of exploitation at an industrial scale for operators carrying out fishing activities at the Romanian coast. Initially, the R. venosa population was exploited only with the help of divers, by manual harvesting, but currently, starting with the second half of the year 2013, as a result of the authorisition in the fishing sector of the beam trawl, rapa whelck harvesting is being accomplished by both techniques: manual, by divers, and mechanised, by beam trawl. The legalization of beam trawl fisheries resulted in the implementation of changes in the structure of the fishing fleet (increasing the number of vessels with lengths greater than 12 m) and equipping these vessels with facilities/equipment adequate for a combined fishing: stationary (gillnets, goby pots, longlines etc.) and active (pelagic trawl, beam trawl etc.).