Fishing in the antipodes. Fishers and fishes in two opposite poles

Fishing in the antipodes: Fishers and fishes in two opposite poles

RESEARCH GROUP

MARINE RESOURCES AND FISHERIES

Recursos Marinos y Pesquerías

Pablo Pitahttp://www.verdeprofundo.net/

http://www.recursosmarinos.udc.es/

http://www.udc.es/

UWA Oceans Institute, W Australia, February 20th, 2013

25 faculties/schools

25000 graduate, 1500 postgraduate students, some 1200 academic and/or research staff, and 800 administrative staff

MARINE RESOURCES AND FISHERIES

Multidisciplinary group formed by biologists, oceanographers and social scientists

Extensive experience in applied research:

• Assessment and management of living marine resources• Integrated management of the coastal zone• Socioeconomics of coastal communities

http://recursosmarinos.udc.es/

Research projects (1990-2007):

•16 autonomic projects• 6 EU projects•13 national projects• Contracts with private companies

Funding: 1,750,000 euros (last 5 years)

Aprox. 150 publications in international journals

Two spin-off companies

MARINE RESOURCES AND FISHERIES

Spin-offs

Public institutionsCompaniesNGOs

Partners

Regional governmentSpanish governmentEuropean UnionFoundations

Research funding– R+D contracts

Connecting Science, Stakeholders and Policy

GAP 2 Project

Partners

• EU• Scientific (Universities and other research

centres)• Stakeholders (professional and recreational

fishers, NGOs)• Politicians (regional, national and international

fishing ministries and RACs)

• Mutual learning between scientists, fishermen and managers

• User participation in the management of fisheries and the marine environment

• Collaborative research that integrates the scientific and users knowledge in the management policies

Objectives

1. UK. Sustainability of brown crab stocks with studies on behavior and migrations

2. Spain. Mapping habitats and fishing grounds in coastal ecosystems of Galicia

3. Germany. Climate change effect on the inshore and Wadden Sea brown shrimp fishery

4. DenmarkManagement plans for herring in ICES IIIa and adjacent areas; perceptions of stocks and fisheries

5. Norway. Developing a fisheries-based resource monitoring system for Norwegian coastal cod

6. Sweden. Development of selective fisheries on whitefish in Lake Vattern - joint research involving regional stakeholders inked to “Fisheries Co-management Initiatives”

7. Spain-France. Conservation and management issues of tuna fisheries around FADs

8. Italy. Spatio-temporal distribution of fishing effort and biological resources in the Northern Adriatic Sea: towards the identification of fish habitats and management proposal in the framework of a participatory approach

9. Malta. Management of the trawl industry in the Maltese 25nm Fisheries Management Zone (FMZ)

10. Spain. Ecological impact and alternative management strategies for the NW Mediterranean red shrimp (Aristeus antennatus) fishery

11. Estonia. Mapping Baltic Fisheries in support of Marine Spatial Planning

12. Holland. Collaborative discard sampling in the Dutch flatfish fisheries

13. UK. Long term management plans and the ecosystem approach in the North Sea

Cases of study

• Partnership with the Galician Organization of Fishermen

• Useful information to improve (self) management

• Information for multiple objectives (management plans, technical reports, proposals, conflict resolutions, etc.)

Mapping habitats and fishing grounds in coastal ecosystems of Galicia

Collecting TEK

Map working

Map working

Map working

Habitat cartography

Fisheries monitoring

www.recursosmarinos.udc.es/gap2www.gap2.eugap2galicia@gmail.com

More information

WP 1 International exchange

Commercial catches of razor clams are performed by free divers in Galicia. Just the same as the abalone fishery of Australia, in the other side of the world.

Dr Jeremy Prince called The Barefoot Ecologist Toolbox to a set of user-friendly tools to effectively manage fisheries.

Effective implementation of these ideas has been successful, especially when applied to artisanal small-scale invertebrate fisheries, like the abalone fishery of Australia.

WP 1 International exchange

I attended the annual meeting of the Western Zone Abalone Divers Association (WADA) in Victoria. They settled the catch and size limits for the next year.

Before the virus struck 300 tons of abalone were caught on WADA reefs. In 2012 they captured 40 tons.

Now divers wants to raise quotas to 70 tons.

Also propose flexible quota distribution among the reefs so that fishing effort can spread following the divers decisions.

WP 1 International exchange

Pending the final decision of the Ministry, there will not be an increase in the total quota for the next year, but divers can reallocate some reef quotas according to their proposal.

WP 1 International exchange

New Data-Poor Harvest Strategies based on SPR

Jeremy Prince, Adrian Hordyk & Sarah Valencia

Acknowledgements:

David and Lucile Packard FoundationMarine Stewardship Council

The Nature Conservancy

WP 1 International exchange

Size of Maturity Data: Collected only once to develop each assessment framework

Size Histogram from the Catch

Data

Size Composition Data: Collected each time an Assessment is repeated

WP 1 International exchange

Current SPR

Depletion (F/M ~ SPR)

Estimate of SPR100% SPR

Visual censuses in dark waters

Visual censuses in dark waters

Visual censuses in dark waters

Visual censuses in dark waters

Visual censuses in dark waters

Visual censuses in dark waters

1. Rough sea conditions

2. Poor visibilitym

Relevant constrictions

Visual censuses in dark waters

Thank you very much