Suchergebnisse

The Multiannual Management Plan embedded in Regulation EU 2019/1022 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 20, 2019, envisages to reform Mediterranean demersal fisheries to restore stocks to maximum sustainability yields by 2025. This paper leverages a bioeconomic model based on a specific case study of the Western Mediterranean Sea to analyze the objectives of this new EU reform. We complement this analysis with simulations based on alternative management strategies: the reduction of fishing effort of 1–2 days-per-week and changes to selectivity patterns. Effects on artisanal fleets are also analyzed in order to assess scenarios that could achieve sustainability for all demersal fishing fleets. The results reveal that it is not possible to achieve the plan's aims for all stocks. Furthermore, the fishing time established is insufficient, although it would increase economic, and biological indicators for medium- and long-term periods. The best scenarios would be achieved by applying selective changes that provide for faster recovery of biological and economic indicators for trawler and artisanal fleets. The results also reveal that the reduction in the number of fishing days per week complemented with selectivity changes would have a lower socioeconomic impact than a reduction in fishing effort based entirely on fishing days or number of boats. In any case, Mediterranean demersal fisheries require a significant and well-planned reduction in fishing mortality levels over the next several years to recover and maintain sustainable exploitation. ; The authors declare that this study received funding from the European Parliament's Committee on Fisheries and was presented at the European Parliament in Brussels on November 23, 2018. This study received funding from the European Commission's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under Grant Agreement No. 634495 for the project, "Science, Technology, and Society Initiative to Minimize Unwanted Catches in European Fisheries" (MINOUW) and IS was grant funded by the University of Alicante and Sacyr Agua S.L.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the importance of seawater desalination to the supply of fresh water to SE Spain, in order to tackle the problem of the shortage of water resources. The Mancomunidad de los Canales del Taibilla (MCT) supplies water to a population of more than 2,400,000 inhabitants in SE Spain. Resources managed by the MCT include the Taibilla river basin, water from the Tajo-Segura transfer, other unusual occasional groundwater contributions and from 2003, sea water desalination. Four desalination plants: Alicante I and II and San Pedro del Pinatar I and II together with resources from other desalination plants provide a significant amount of resources. For a decade (2004-2013) the resources coming from sea water desalination averaged 20.2% of all the resources used by MCT, with 432 Mm3 of total production in the period studied. However, the yearly contribution of desalination has changed depending on the availability of other resources. Moreover, seawater desalination has been essential to ensure water supply in the Alicante and Murcia areas. This resource has been important in periods of shortage, but also in unusual exploitation situations, such as that of the post-transfer tunnel detachment, which was classified as the most important breakdown of this infrastructure within its long lifetime. Moreover, scenarios of future climate changes could increase demands for water supply. ; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spanish government), for the financial aid with Project CTM2013-46669-R.

The FisherMan project Capacity building for sustainable Fisheries Management in the Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO) is co-financed by the European Commission through the ACP Edulink programme. FisherMan aims at supporting higher education institutions in the SWIO region to create new study programmes in sustainable fisheries management. This paper presents an overview of the project activities and describes the 1st edition of the FisherMan Regional Conference celebrated during September 2015 in Madagascar whose main aim was to bring together regional and international fisheries experts, authorities, professionals, academics, policy makers and other involved and interested in the Fishery sector, to exchange ideas and to promote an effective collaboration in the South-Western Indian Ocean and increase fishery management education at higher education level. ; Le projet FisherMan - Renforcement des capacités pour la gestion durable des pêcheries dans l'océan Indien du sudouest (SWIO) - est co-financé par la Commission Européenne à travers le programme ACP Edulink. FisherMan vise à soutenir les institutions d'éducation supérieur de la région SWIO dans la création de nouveaux programmes d'étude dans la gestion durable de pêcheries. Ce papier présente une vue d'ensemble des activités du projet et décrit la première édition de la Conférence Régionale FisherMan qui a eu lieu en septembre 2015 au Madagascar avec comme but principal de rassembler des experts régionaux et internationaux en pêcheries, des autorités, professionnels, professeurs, chercheurs, décideurs politiques et autres impliqués et intéressés par le secteur de la pêche, pour échanger des idées et promouvoir une collaboration efficace dans l'océan Indien su sud-ouest et augmenter l'éducation en gestion de pêcheries au niveau de l'éducation supérieur. ; FISHERMAN is a project within the EDULINK Programme: ACP-EU Higher Education Cooperation funded by the European Union and implemented by the ACP Secretariat. Special thanks to the Institut Halieutique et des Sciences Marines of the University of Toliara, to the Ministre de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique and to the Ministre des Ressources Halieutiques et de la Pêche for their support to the 1st FISHERMAN Conference.

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. ; JMB wrote this article during a sabbatical at UBC, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education (Convocatoria MECD Salvador de Madariaga, 2017, Ref. PRX17/00355). This article is mainly based on the analysis in "Fishing management based on technical measures - the need of a new framework for the Mediterranean Sea", which was requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Fisheries and presented at the "Workshop on a new technical measures framework for the new Common Fishery Policy" at the European Parliament in Brussels on 13th October 2015. We acknowledge the financial support provided by the European Parliament for carrying out this work. MLP and DP are supported by the Sea Around Us, a research initiative funded by several philanthropic foundations, notably the Oak Foundation, David and Lucille Packard Foundation, Bloomberg Foundation via Rare, Oceana, Marisla Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, and MAVA Foundation. RS is supported by SSHRC, MEOPAR and Genome Canada and BC.

The Common Fisheries Policy in the Mediterranean has been so far based on technical measures that have been relatively stable for a long time, and it did not prevent the efficiency increase in both vessels and gears that have counterbalanced the fleet reduction. The new Multiannual Plan for Demersal fish stocks in the western Mediterranean Sea introduces a fishing effort regime as a new approach to reduce significantly fishing time, allowing stocks to approach MSY in the medium term. However, different approaches to reduce fishing time may have different socio-economic impacts that have to be considered. The reduction of fishing time has to be complemented with selectivity improvements, temporal and permanent closures and local co-management plans to protect both juveniles and spawners. The combination of several measures will soften the need for effort reduction and it will contribute significantly to the sustainability of Mediterranean Fisheries. ; This work was supported by European Parliament's Committee on Fisheries and presented at the European Parliament in Brussels on 23 November 2018.

Seawater desalination represents an alternative solution to face the challenge of water scarcity in Chile. However, the uncertainty toward potential environmental impacts of desalination plants represent a barrier to achieving water sustainability and socioeconomic development in Chile. This study aimed to assess the quality of environmental monitoring plans (EMP) and determine the aspects to be improved within it, in order to enhance the management of desalination plants during the operation phase and guarantee a sustainable development of the activity. The Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Environmental Impact Studies for seawater desalination projects published in the Environmental Impact Evaluation System (SEIA) in Chile between 1997 and 2018 were reviewed. The results of the brine production from desalination plants showed a significant increase in the last decade (about 1.6 Mm3 per year estimated according to the projects approved or under implementation). The EMPs data show heterogeneity and increasing requirements over time, which can be attributed to the governmental effort to improve environmental protection. Furthermore, a high frequency of irrelevant descriptors was identified in the current EMPs. The study thus recommended standardizing the environmental requirements included in EMPs based on empiric scientific knowledge to enhance the environmental protection programs in Chile. ; I.S. has a grant funded by University of Alicante and Sacyr Agua S.L. Also, P.T.M. and C.A.S were funded by project CEA 01-1819 from Convenio Desempeño UPA 1795 granted to Universidad de Playa Ancha.

Seagrass meadows, key ecosystems supporting fisheries, carbon sequestration and coastal protection, are globally threatened. In Europe, loss and recovery of seagrasses are reported, but the changes in extent and density at the continental scale remain unclear. Here we collate assessments of changes from 1869 to 2016 and show that 1/3 of European seagrass area was lost due to disease, deteriorated water quality, and coastal development, with losses peaking in the 1970s and 1980s. Since then, loss rates slowed down for most of the species and fast-growing species recovered in some locations, making the net rate of change in seagrass area experience a reversal in the 2000s, while density metrics improved or remained stable in most sites. Our results demonstrate that decline is not the generalised state among seagrasses nowadays in Europe, in contrast with global assessments, and that deceleration and reversal of declining trends is possible, expectingly bringing back the services they provide. ; COST Action - ES0906; Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) fellowship - SFRH/BPD/119344/2016; FCT - UID/Multi/04326/2019; European Union -06441C EVK3-CT-2000-00044 WISER 226273; Danish Strategic Science Foundation (NOVAGRASS) - 0603-00003DSF; Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark - 33010-NIFA-16-651; Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MedShift) - CGL2015-71809-P; Fundacion BBVA (Proyecto Praderas); Spanish Government - MEDEIG. CTM2009-07013; King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST); European Fishery Fund (EFF 2007-2013); European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF 2014-2020); Spanish Ministry of Industry, Economy and Competitiveness (UMBRAL) - CTM2017-86695-C3-2-R; Autonomous Government of the Murcia Region (General Directorate of Livestock and Fishery); Short-Term Scientific Missions - COST-STSM-ES0906-06377; COST-STSM-ES0906-06441; COST-STSM-ES0906-06419; ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Seagrass meadows, key ecosystems supporting fisheries, carbon sequestration and coastal protection, are globally threatened. In Europe, loss and recovery of seagrasses are reported, but the changes in extent and density at the continental scale remain unclear. Here we collate assessments of changes from 1869 to 2016 and show that 1/3 of European seagrass area was lost due to disease, deteriorated water quality, and coastal development, with losses peaking in the 1970s and 1980s. Since then, loss rates slowed down for most of the species and fast-growing species recovered in some locations, making the net rate of change in seagrass area experience a reversal in the 2000s, while density metrics improved or remained stable in most sites. Our results demonstrate that decline is not the generalised state among seagrasses nowadays in Europe, in contrast with global assessments, and that deceleration and reversal of declining trends is possible, expectingly bringing back the services they provide. ; This research was supported by the COST Action ES0906. C.B.d.l.S. acknowledges the support by the Short-Term Scientific Missions (COST-STSM-ES0906-06377, -06441 and -06419) and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) fellowship (SFRH/BPD/119344/2016). C.B.d.l.S. and R.S. acknowledge the support of FCT through project UID/Multi/04326/2019. D.K-J. was supported by the European Union (WISER 226273), the Danish Strategic Science Foundation (NOVAGRASS, 0603-00003DSF), and the Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark (33010-NIFA-16-651). N.M. was supported by Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MedShift, CGL2015-71809-P), by the European Union (M&M's, EVK3-CT-2000–00044 and WISER 226273), by the Fundación BBVA (Proyecto Praderas), and the Spanish Government (MEDEIG. CTM2009–07013). King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) supported C.M.D. through baseline funding. J.M.R. acknowledges the project Monitoring network of Posidonia oceanica meadows and global climate ...