Reconstruction of marine small-scale fisheries captures in the Canary Islands (NE Atlantic Ocean) from 1950 to 2010

José J Castro,Alicia Delgado De Molina Acevedo,Rodrigo Riera,Esther Divovich,Antonio Barrera-Luján

doi:10.3989/scimar.04837.18a

Abstract

Total marine fisheries catches within the exclusive economic zone of the Canary Islands, Spain, were reconstructed to include catches from the various small-scale artisanal fleets and their discards, as well as subsistence, recreational and other unreported catch. Total reconstructed catch was estimated at 38600 t in 1950, increasing to 81200 t in 1985, declining to approximately 43700 t year–1 in the early 2000s, and finally spiking to about 65300 t year–1 by the late 2000s. These catches coincide with a severe depletion of fish stocks, especially those of demersal species, due in part to fishing overcapacity in the artisanal sector, despite attempts to limit effort by the government. Spain only started to report catches to the FAO in 2006, and from 2006 to 2010 reconstructed catch was seven times the reported catch. Nearly 70% of this catch was from the recreational fishing sector, due in part to technological advancements and increased investments in the construction and improvement of secondary ports.

Highlights

The Canary Islands are in a geographically unique position as a navigation base between Europe, Africa, and the Americas (Fig. 1)
The present analysis of tuna catch only considered the artisanal fleet, as opposed to the industrial fleet, which is more likely to fish outside the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Canary Islands
Our ‘baseline’ of reported catch only includes catch reported by the Canarian Government starting in 2006, and the purpose of the present paper is to reconstruct catches for the artisanal fleet from the period 1950-2010 in which data gaps remain, as well as sectors not covered in official catch data such as subsistence catch, recreational catch, bait catch and discards

Summary

Introduction

The Canary Islands are in a geographically unique position as a navigation base between Europe, Africa, and the Americas (Fig. 1). The small-scale fisheries of the Canary Islands share many characteristics and problems of other European, especially Mediterranean, artisanal fisheries (Guyader et al 2013, Maynou et al 2013) These fisheries are operated by a heterogeneous fleet composed of small boats, small crews and different gears that change their target species throughout the year. This sector has low extraction rates and low total capital investments, and it lacks comprehensive data on catch and fishing effort (Bas et al 1995, Hernández-García et al 1998). The present reconstruction will shed more light on total catch removals from the waters around the Canary Islands, and assist fishers and policy makers in understanding the current state of this artisanal fishery

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion