(Reg: (Ec) N. 1967/2006, Art. 9 and 13) Regarding the Fishing of Transparent Goby (Aphia Minuta) with the Boat Seines in the Manfredonia Fishing District
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NATIONAL MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR DEROGATION TO MESH SIZE AND DISTANCE FROM THE COAST (REG: (EC) N. 1967/2006, ART. 9 AND 13) REGARDING THE FISHING OF TRANSPARENT GOBY (APHIA MINUTA) WITH THE BOAT SEINES IN THE MANFREDONIA FISHING DISTRICT Manfredonia – July 2014 Edited by: P.O. ITTICI SUD ADRIATICO Soc. Coop. Registered office in Manfredonia (FG), Lungomare Nazario Sauro – c/o the New Fish Market 1 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Legal references ....................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 National and regional research on Transparent goby .......................................................................... 6 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES .......................................................................................................... 8 2.1 Classification ............................................................................................................................................ 8 2.2 Morphology .............................................................................................................................................. 8 2.3 Geographic and bathymetric distribution ............................................................................................. 9 2.4 Biology and ecology .............................................................................................................................. 10 3 – TRANSPARENT GOBY FISHERIES IN THE GULF OF MANFREDONIA .................................. 14 3.1 Area of intervention............................................................................................................................... 14 3.2 Fleet and yields of transparent goby fisheries with trawl nets .......................................................... 17 3.3 Socio-economic assessment................................................................................................................... 22 3.3.1 Context .......................................................................................................................................... 22 3.3.2 Socio-economic survey ................................................................................................................ 26 3.4 Biomass estimation of transparent goby stocks in the Gulf of Manfredonia.................................... 38 3.5 Assessment of the level of exploitation of Transparent goby in the Gulf of Manfredonia ............. 43 4 – DESCRIPTION AND USE OF BOAT SEINES................................................................................. 47 4.1 Legal, historical, biological and socio-economic framework ............................................................. 47 4.2 Description of boats seines and how they are used ............................................................................ 49 5 –FEASIBILITY STUDY ON THE USE OF BOAT SEINES IN THE MANFREDONIA FISHING DISTRICT ........................................................................................................................... 53 5.1 Knowledge of the gear and the fishery techniques ............................................................................. 53 5.2 Experimentation: 2011-2012 .................................................................................................................. 56 5.3 Experimentation 2012-2013 ................................................................................................................... 59 5.3.1 Experimentation of the seine net on the 100 vessels taking part to the trials ......................... 59 5.3.2 Training carried out for the use of seine nets on two vessels participating to the project ............................................................................................................................................ 66 5.4 Experimental campaign 2014 ................................................................................................................ 72 6. MANAGEMENT MEASURES ................................................................................................................ 78 6.1 General aspects ...................................................................................................................................... 78 6.2 Controlling fishing effort ...................................................................................................................... 79 6.3 Monitoring indicators ............................................................................................................................ 79 6.4 Management Plan for transparent goby fisheries with seine nets in the Gulf of Manfredonia ...... 82 6.5 Time-frame and implementation methodology for the Management Plan ...................................... 82 6.5.1 Agenda .......................................................................................................................................... 82 6.5.2 Measures to contain fishing capacity .......................................................................................... 82 6.5.3 Catch restriction measures .......................................................................................................... 83 6.5.4 Technical restrictions ................................................................................................................... 84 6.5.5 Measures to monitor the species and catch rates....................................................................... 85 7 – MANAGEMENT AND CORRECTIVE MEASURES OF THE PLAN ............................................. 87 7.1 Management measures of the Plan ......................................................................................................... 87 7.2 Corrective actions of the Plan .................................................................................................................. 88 7.2.1 Limit Reference Point .................................................................................................................... 88 7.2.2 Fishing season early closure ......................................................................................................... 88 7.2.3 Corrective management measures .............................................................................................. 88 7.2.4 Transparent Goby fishery suspension ......................................................................................... 88 7.3 Governance of the fishing management – control and surveillance strategy ..................................... 88 8 – BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................................... 90 8.1 Bibliography – works cited ...................................................................................................................... 90 2 8.2 Legal references ..................................................................................................................................... 93 Websites cited......................................................................................................................................... 94 Cover photo: the Port of Manfredonia (photo A. Ligas) 3 INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Transparent goby, Aphia minuta (Risso, 1810), is a small goby with a maximum size of 6 cm. In Italy it used to be an important resource of small-scale fishing and was habitually caught during the winter by small-scale fleets throughout the Ligurian Sea (Relini et al., 1998), Tyrrhenian Sea (Auteri et al., 1998), Adriatic Sea (Ungaro et al., 1994; Froglia et al., 1998) and Sardinia (Cau, 2000). Other Mediterranean areas where the species was commonly caught are the Balearic Islands and the continental coast of Spain (Iglesias and Morales-Nin, 2001). Transparent goby was traditionally fished on a small scale and near the shore both with small seines or surrounding nets without the purse line, and small trawlers rigged with modified gears to fish this species (Romanelli et al., 1996; Casavola et al., 1999a, 1999b; Auteri et al., 2000; La Mesa et al., 2005). With the entry into force of Reg. (EC) n. 1967/2006, both vessels deploying seine nets known as “boat seines” as defined in art. 2, par. 1, ii) of Reg. (EC) n. 1967/2006, and trawl nets modified to fish this species were banned because these gears have a stretched mesh size under 14 mm. Fishery activities continued, however, during the following years after several derogations were granted (Cau, 2000), until art. 14 of Reg. (EC) n. 1967/2006 entered into force on June 1st 2010, setting the square mesh size at 40 mm and excluding any kind of exemption. In consideration of the social, economic and cultural relevance of traditional fisheries in some Mediterranean maritime districts, such as that of transparent goby, Reg. (EC) n. 1967/2006 does, however, allow for the continuation of such fisheries as well as other activities of socio-cultural relevance, as long as the biological and ecological sustainability of these activities are ensured by means of a specific Management Plan. In this framework, the Member State can draw up a Management Plan for the use of vessels deploying seine nets and surrounding nets without the purse line (“boat seines”) under art. 19 of Reg. (EC) n. 1967/2006, granting a derogation to the application of art.