Over the past decade, the Algerian government has undertaken several incentives financed by state subsidies, via a range of development plans for fishing activities. Although these have led to the growth and modernization of the fishing fleet and the creation of various jobs, this increased fishing pressure has not maximized production as anticipated. In fact, catch is decreasing, and there are clear signs of stock overexploitation for several species, particularly sardines, for which catches have fallen dramatically. This study analyses the impact of fishing from an ecosystem perspective, with a view to the implementation of ecosystem approach to fishery management (EAFM) at the level of Algerian fisheries. To this end, a series of trophic indicators are used. The analysis shows that ecosystems at both national level and in the Bou-Ismail Bay are excessively exploited, and are altered by overexploitation and probably eutrophication. This situation is demonstrated in particular by the decrease in the average trophic level of catch, which is synonymous with "Fishing Down Marine Food Webs" (FDMW) ; 1
Article 4 of EU Regulation 1380/2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) define 'technical measure' as "a measure that regulates the composition of catches by species and size and the impacts on components of the ecosystems resulting from fishing activities by establishing conditions for the use and structure of fishing gear and restrictions on access to fishing areas." Thus, these are a set of rules that govern where, when and how fishing can take place. Most of the fisheries management systems in place worldwide employ technical measures based on control of inputs and outputs. For Europe, the European Commission is reforming the CFP legislative framework and has updated and amended the rules for technical measures (EU Regulation 2019/1241). This is particularly important for management systems in the European parts of the Mediterranean, where input measures play a major role, in contrast to management systems in the North East Atlantic, which uses mainly output measures (catch quota). We discuss here the main advantages and disadvantages of these instruments with a particular focus on the European part of the Mediterranean Sea, our main aim being to foster a debate on the best measures for fisheries management ; 1
The latest Green Paper on the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) identified the high level of discards in Europe as one of the structural weaknesses of the current CFP. The new CFP introduces a discard ban in European waters, with an obligation to land all regulated species. The fishing management system in the Mediterranean is based on effort control and technical measures, and this is raising some particular concerns about the effective implementation of the discard ban. With the exception of bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus, Scombridae), there are no quotas in the Mediterranean and this regulation affects all regulated species with the minimum landing size. Under these circumstances, the discard ban may lead to an increase in the amount of juvenile fish caught, because such catches are not counted against a given quota, as is the case in the Atlantic fisheries, and thus, there is no incentive to avoid catching them. On the contrary, the obligation to land the juveniles that are now discarded and their subsequent fishmeal processing might even become commercially interesting. One possible consequence of the new regulation may be an increase in the illegal marketing of fish below the minimum size. The landing, storage and transportation of juveniles will all be legal, and this may simplify their commercialization via the black market. The discard ban and landing obligation should be accompanied by other measures to ensure their successful implementation, including the agreement of the fishing sector to comply with the rules and regulations ; Versión del editor ; 5,8000
The hake fishery (Merluccius hubbsi and Merluccius australis) is one of the most important ones for Spanish vessels operating in the Southwest Atlantic. Both species are widely distributed along the Patagonian shelf, although M. australis occupies mainly more southern waters. This paper presents a historical review of fishery data on the Spanish fishing fleet operating in the SW Atlantic collected and collated during the EC Study Project 99/016 "Data collection for stock assessment of two hakes (Merluccius hubbsi and M. australis) in International and Falkland waters of the SW Atlantic", in order to analyse the evolution of catch and effort in the hake fishery since 1983 to 2000. Data on landings and effort by Spanish vessels from 1983 onwards were utilised to study trends and shifts within the fishery. These data were provided by Asociación Nacional de Armadores de Buques Congeladores de Pesca de Merluza (ANAMER), the most important Spanish ship-owners fishing association operating in distant fishing grounds. Catch and effort data collected by observer's programmes carried out by Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO) and the Falkland Islands Government Fisheries Department (FIGFD), as well as by observers provided by the project were used to estimate CPUE by area and season.The data included landings in kgs by commercial size category of hake (both species together) and effort made by vessels appertaining to ANAMER in number of fishing days and number of vessels by vessel size category. Conversion factors obtained by scientific observers onboard of these vessels were used to obtain the whole catch from landings. Total effort of the Spanish fleet was estimated from ANAMER logbooks, assuming a similar pattern for the whole fleet and taking into account the different ratio of ANAMER fleet compared to the total Spanish fleet. An increase of the catches and effort was observed from 1983 to a maximum in 1990 coinciding with the closure of Namibian fisheries. After that, catches and effort decreased corresponding to ...
Discarding is considered globally among the most important issues for fisheries management. The recent reform of the Common Fisheries Policy establishes a landing obligation for the species which are subject to catch limits and, in the Mediterranean, for species which are subject to Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS) as defined in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006. Additionally, several other initiatives aim to reduce unwanted catches of target and bycatch species, including species of conservation concern. This raises the need to study discarding patterns of (mainly) these species. In this work we collated a considerable amount of historical published information on discard ratios and lengths at discarding for species caught in EU Mediterranean bottom trawl fisheries. The main aim was to summarize the available historical records and make them more accessible for scientific and managerial needs, as well as to try identifying patterns in discarding. We show discard ratios and lengths at which 50% of the individuals were discarded (L50) for 15 species (9 bony fishes, three crustacean decapods, and three elasmobranchs). Discard ratios were usually low for target species such as hake, red mullets and highly commercial shrimps and exemptions from the landing obligation under the de minimis rules could be sought in several cases. Discard ratios were usually higher for commercial bycatch species. Discarding is affected by a combination of factors and for a given species, especially for non-target ones, discards are likely to fluctuate within a fishery, across seasons, years, and regions. For most species considered, L50s were lower than the MCRS (when in place) and length at first maturity. L50s of target species, such as hake, were very small due to the existence of market demands for small sized individuals. However, for species of low demand, like horse mackerels, a higher retention size was observed, often exceeding MCRS. Lengths at discarding are affected by legal provisions, market demands but ...
