Information for the Compilation of a NASCO Implementation Plan and NASCO Focus Area Reports for Spain

Agenda Item 7.1 For Information Council CNL(10)36 Information for the Compilation of a NASCO Implementation Plan and NASCO Focus Area Reports for Spain We have received the attached report for EU-Spain concerning the development of an Implementation Plan and Focus Area reports. The Secretaria General del Mar has been working with the Autonomous Regions that have wild salmon populations to collate information to enable the production of an Implementation Plan and FARs and this progress is most welcome. Secretary Edinburgh 21 May 2010 INFORMATION FOR THE COMPILATION OF A NASCO IMPLEMENTATION PLAN AND NASCO FOCUS AREA REPORTS FOR SPAIN 1. SALMON MANAGEMENT___________________________________________ 1.1. Describe the objectives of the salmon management strategy for the Region and summarise the roles of the management entities involved in implementing it: GALICIA: The Dirección Xeral de Conservación da Natureza (General Direction of Environment Conservation) is the entities responsible of salmon management in Galicia. The general objective is to promote and protect the diversity and abundance of salmon stocks, maintaining where it is possible an angling exploitation with sustainable guidelines. ASTURIAS: Actually, the Asturian Goverment is developing a Management Plan for Salmon Stock. This document includes as one of its purposes “Assuring the presence in all salmon rivers, enough breedings that can spawn naturally in the best possible conditions, to thus ensure the preservation of the species.” As main management objectives the document includes: 1. Encouraging the sustainable management of stocks, ensuring enough natural reproduction capacity of the species and, where necessary, reinforcing it with potential repopulation and proper management of competing species. 2. Preserving and improving the habitat, especially regarding water quality, and maintenance of river courses, banks and vegetation. 3. Establishing a responsible management and recreational fishing model, which supports the sustainable management of the species. 4. Establishing programs to monitor the fish populations and fishing pressure. 5. Keeping on the research on habitats and populations in areas of their population dynamics, captures, as well as the ecological, genetics and pathology studies. 6. Increasing social awareness to the river habitats, species and their sustainable use. P.VASCO Guipuzkoa The main objective is to go on with and develop the Atlantic salmon reintroduction plan in the Urumea and Oria river basins, initiated at the 80`s of the past century by the local administration (Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa/Gipuzkoako Foru Aldundia), responsible for the entire plan and its monitoring. Bizkaia The main objective is reintroduction the Atlantic salmon in the Lea and Barbadun river basins, initiated at the 90`s of the past century by the local administration (Diputación Foral de Bizkaia). 1 NAVARRA The roles of the management entities involved in implementing it: In the autonomous region of Navarra, the entity involved in salmon management is the Department of Rural Development and of the Environment of the Govement of Navarra, and its main objectives are: 1. The conservation of the species. 2. The enhancement and increase of the salmon population stock. 3. Habitat improvement and the increase of the area occupied by salmon. 4. Sustainable use of the resource by the recreational fishery. CANTABRIA (This information has not been received from this Autonomus Region) 1.2. Describe the nature and extent of the salmon resource in the Region (e.g. number and size of stocks, special designations, etc) with a map, and the status of the salmon stocks: GALICIA Salmon is present in 8 rivers (Eo, Masma, Ouro, Landro, Mero, Mandeo, Ulla, Lérez and Miño). The more stable stocks are in 3 rivers (Eo, Ulla and Miño), other 3 rivers has medium level (Masma, Mandeo and Lérez) and 3 with low level (Ouro, Landro and Mero). (map has not been received) ASTURIAS Rivers: The asturian hydrographic network is very extensive. It is estimated that the stretches of permanent running waters, colonized by salmonids, are more than 2.500 linear kilometers. Of these, less than 400 kilometers would be accessible stretches for salmon and their habitat, and about a thousand kilometers would be inhabited by other migrating species, the eel. Hydrographic Basin: The Atlantic salmon (Salmo Salar) breeds populations in the following rivers basins: Deva, Sella, Narcea (up to dam Calabazos) Nalón (up to Las Caldas, and Cubia and Trubia rivers), Navia (up to prey Arbón), Eo, Esva, Portia, Bedon, and occasionally, in Purón, Esqueiro and Negro. Salmon Zone: All of these rivers have regulated their use regime, and a geographical classification has been made, which involves possible changes in fishing periods, fishing equipment and carvings, depending on whether fishing takes place or not in the salmon zone, where there are time and fish species constraints. 2 The rivers in which the salmon fishing has been allowed under these rules are Deva and Cares, Sella & Pilon, Narcea, Nalón Eo Navia, Esva, Portia, Bedon, and Puron, although the 2010 legislation has limited it to Deva, Cares, Sella, Narcea - Nalón, and Eo. Status of salmon stock. In Asturias, using the number of annual catch during the fishing season as an index of abundance, it is observed that in the historical series which were begun in 1949, the decrease is constant and significant (about 2,2% per year), which represents a decrease from the general trend over a decade of nearly to 20%. (Nores, 2007) 6,500 6,000 5,500 5,000 4,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 1949 1951 1953 1955 1957 1959 1961 1963 1965 1967 1969 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 Graph 1. Evolution of salmon catches in Asturias along the period 1949-2009 6,500 6,000 5,500 5,000 4,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 Graph 2. General trend of salmon catches in Asturias along the period 1949-2009 3 The information obtained by other means shows similar trends. Thus, an assessment of the sizes of salmon stocks in the Asturian rivers obtained by genetic means indicate that in the rivers Eo, Esva, Narcea, Sella and Cares, they have declined dramatically between the 90s of last century and 2000. Although the data vary depending on the statistical method taken into account, decreases can be noticed in every study around 50% of the effective population size and total (Garcia, 2009). Some particulars of the catch trends in major Asturian rivers during the last years are shown in the table below: RIO 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Deva-Cares 413 551 320 331 366 410 393 345 369 105 Narcea-Nalón 643 1159 604 273 459 910 826 656 467 122 Sella 440 753 563 628 628 1100 455 610 528 85 Esva 102 198 115 31 31 75 172 115 68 12 Navia 1 10 5 1 1 7 11 16 5 1 Porcía 18 0 0 0 4 10 13 13 0 4 Eo 43 135 129 62 62 236 234 194 96 27 (map has not been received) PAÍS VASCO Guipuzkoa Urumea river medium adult population size (1994-2009): 63 adult salmon Oria river medium adult population size (1998-2009): 25 adult salmon 4 Bizkaia Lea river medium adult population size (2000-2008): 5 adult salmon. Barbadun river medium adult population size (2000-2008): 5 adult salmon. NAVARRA The main salmon stock within Navarra is located in the Bidasoa River (see map), where the adult salmon population size vary between 250 and 500 returning adults. The decrease in salmon retums observed in during from the 70s to the 90s have been stopped and stabilized since the middle 90s. 5 The retuming adults are nearly 80% grilse (1SW) and the remaining 20% MSW. Recently the proportion is MSW in slowly growing. Anecdotal numbers of previous spawners and 3SW are being reported again in the recent years. The sex ratio within ISW is nearly 1.5 M :1 F, and within MSW is 0.6 M : 1 F. CANTABRIA (This information has not been received from this Autonomus Region) 2. SALMON FISHERIES MANAGEMENT_____________________________ 2.1. Describe the salmon fisheries in the Region (i.e. methods, locations, etc): GALICIA Only angling is allowed in restricted areas (named as “cotos) where fishing effort is regulated, a conservative quota is annually design, fishing season starts in may and finish in july, and only is allowed to fish salmon in 4 Galician rivers (Masma, Mandeo, Ulla, Lérez and Miño), in 2010 we allow to fish 80 salmon in these rivers. The Eo river is border with Asturias and the regulation are like the others asturians rivers (no quota and no restricted fishing areas). ASTURIAS The fishing presents from the forties, singular and even modern aspects of management in Asturias: the prohibition of fishing salmon in river mouth and adjacent coast, as well as the use of nets, the obligation to register the catches, the non-privatization of the fishing rights and the existence of drawings to accede to the fishing preserves. Today, fishing practice requires a license and, within the general framework established by the law, there is annual legislation which defines the characteristics and fishing conditions in that season: duration, fishing methods, quotas, etc ... (find attached copy of the legislation of 2009 and 2010) The abundance of the stock is being assessed by the catches rate, since it`s required to be registered, although there are other methods (meters in the rivers Eo and Sella, and assessment of stocks by genetic methods).

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