Inventory and mapping of habitats and fisheries footprint off "Amanay" and "El Banquete" seamounts (Southern Fuerteventura, Canary Islands). Criteria analysis for the marine protected area establishment ; Inventario y cartografía de los hábitats y de la huella pesquera de los montes submarinos "Aman...
Sur de Fuerteventura is one of the areas chosen to be depicted in the frame of INDEMARES project. The midpoint of the study area is located at 25 km from Fuerteventura and 65 km from Gran Canaria. The main aim of the project was to end up with an inventory and mapping of habitats and fisheries footprint off the study area, information which would let the administrations to establish a new Natura 2000 area, trying to reconcile protection of biodiversity with artisanal local economic activities. Methodology approach complies with a multidisciplinary perspective, having described the area from geological, oceanographic, biological and fisheries points of view. Several surveys have taken place since 2009 to 2013 at Amanay and El Banquete waters. Data from VMS (Vessel Monitoring System) were used, combined with interviews to users (fishers), sampling at landing points and onboard observation programs, to describe the fishery uses in the area. Thirteen different types of communities have been identified as "Habitat 1170, Reefs", following Annex 1 from Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/CEE) from European Union. All of them have three dimensional structure and species with certain size turning these areas into important containers of biodiversity and hot spots for shelter. About protected species by Habitats Directive, Centrostephanus longispinus (Philippi, 1845) belongs to Annex IV. Chilomycterus reticulatus (Linnaeus, 1758) is included in the Canary Islands Catalog of Protected Species as a vulnerable species. Within the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, we can find several fishes as endangered species, Squatina squatina (Linnaeus, 1758) as critically endangered, while in the area can also be found several vulnerable species, special importance have several elasmobranchs species. Subsequent studies about deep water white corals Lophelia pertusa (Linnaeus, 1758) and Madrepora oculata Linnaeus, 1758, present in the study area, could conclude with these ...