Mediterranean Marine Science

Vol. 18, 2017

Where not to fish – reviewing and mapping fisheries restricted areas in the Aegean Sea

PETZA D. "Department of Marine Sciences, University of the Aegean" and "Directorate for Fisheries Policy & Fishery Resources, Directorate General for Sustainable Fisheries, Ministry of Rural Development & Food" MAINA I. Department of Marine Sciences, University of the Aegean, University Hill, 81100 Mytilene Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources & Inland Waters, 19013 Anavyssos KOUKOUROUVLI N. Department of Marine Sciences, University of the Aegean, University Hill, 81100 Mytilene DIMARCHOPOULOU D. Laboratory of Ichthyology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of , Thessaloniki AKRIVOS D. Directorate for Fisheries Control, Hellenic Headquarters, Ministry of Shipping & Island Policy, Akti Vassiliadi, Gates E1-E2, 18510, KAVADAS S. Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources & Inland Waters, 19013 Anavyssos TSIKLIRAS A.C. Laboratory of Ichthyology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki KARACHLE P. Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources & Inland Waters, 19013 Anavyssos

http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 03/10/2021 16:20:09 | KATSANEVAKIS S. Department of Marine Sciences, University of the Aegean, University Hill, 81100 Mytilene https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.2081

Copyright © 2017

To cite this article:

PETZA, D., MAINA, I., KOUKOUROUVLI, N., DIMARCHOPOULOU, D., AKRIVOS, D., KAVADAS, S., TSIKLIRAS, A.C., KARACHLE, P., & KATSANEVAKIS, S. (2017). Where not to fish – reviewing and mapping fisheries restricted areas in the Aegean Sea. Mediterranean Marine Science, 18(2), 310-323. doi:https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.2081

http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 03/10/2021 16:20:10 | Research Article Mediterranean Marine Science Indexed in WoS (Web of Science, ISI Thomson) and SCOPUS The journal is available on line at http://www.medit-mar-sc.net DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12681/mms.2081

Where not to fish – reviewing and mapping fisheries restricted areas in the Aegean Sea D. PETZA1,2, I. MAINA1,3, N. KOUKOUROUVLI1, D. DIMARCHOPOULOU4, D. AKRIVOS5, S. KAVADAS3, A.C. TSIKLIRAS4, P.K. KARACHLE3, and S. KATSANEVAKIS1 1 Department of Marine Sciences, University of the Aegean, University Hill, 81100 Mytilene, 2 Directorate for Fisheries Policy & Fishery Resources, Directorate General for Sustainable Fisheries, Ministry of Rural Development & Food, 150 Syggrou Avenue, 17671, Athens, Greece 3 Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources & Inland Waters, 19013 Anavyssos, Greece 4 Laboratory of Ichthyology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece 5 Directorate for Fisheries Control, Hellenic Coast Guard Headquarters, Ministry of Shipping & Island Policy, Akti Vassiliadi, Gates E1-E2, 18510, Piraeus, Greece Corresponding author: [email protected] Handling Editor: Argyro Zenetos Received: 17 February 2017; Accepted: 27 April 2017; Published on line: 24 July 2017

Abstract An up-to-date systematic review and unofficial codification of the national fisheries legislation was conducted, along with an up-to-date systematic review of environmental, archaeological and maritime legislation, about spatio-temporal restrictions of fishing activities, by all fishing gears, in the Aegean Sea. Spatio-temporal restrictions established by the and the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean were also reviewed. A database was built, including detailed information on the identified Fisheries Restricted Areas (FRAs). All FRAs were mapped, as polygons in Geographic Information System shapefiles. The national fisheries, environmental, archaeological and maritime legal framework comprises 32, 2, 37 and 43 legal acts respec- tively; EU and GFCM legislation consists of one Regulation and one Recommendation, respectively. A total of 521 FRAs were identified in the study area, out of which 511 are national (254 established by fisheries, 21 by environmental, 85 by archaeological and 151 by maritime legislation), 6 are EU and 4 are international FRAs. 85.2% are located in the Aegean Sea and 14.8% in . Towed or mobile gears are restricted in 88.5% of the FRAs, while static gears are restricted in only 10.2% of the FRAs. Fish stocks and Posidonia oceanica beds protection are the most common reasons for regulating fishing activities (25.3% and 25.0% respec- tively). Most of the FRAs (85.4%) impose permanent closures. National fisheries, environmental, archaeological, maritime, EU and international FRAs cover 25.8%, 1.0%, 1.1%, 0.4%, 13.5% and 22.6% of the study area, respectively. This study provides valuable information for Maritime Spatial Planning in the Aegean Sea. Keywords: FRA mapping, fisheries legislation, environmental legislation, archaeological legislation, maritime legislation, fisheries management, maritime spatial planning.

Abbreviations EU, European Union; FRA, Fisheries Restricted Area; euFRA, FRA established by the EU; intFRA, FRA established by inter- national fisheries organizations; nFRA, national FRA; an FRA, nFRA established by legislation for the protection of underwater ar- chaeological heritage (hereafter: archaeological legislation); neFRA, nFRA established by environmental legislation; nfFRA, nFRA established by fisheries legislation in territorial waters; ifn FRA, nFRA established by fisheries legislation in international waters; nmFRA, nFRA established by maritime legislation; GFCM, General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean; GG, Government Gazette; GGI, Government Gazette Issue; GIS, Geographic Information System; GSA, Geographical Sub-Areas (in the GFCM con- text); JMD, Joint Ministerial Decision; MD, Ministerial Decision; PD, Presidential Decree; RD, Royal Decree; RFMO, Regional Fisheries Management Organization.

Introduction gions (Worm et al., 2009). However, the situation in the Mediterranean Sea has worsened as exploitation rate is Historically, overfishing has substantially reduced increasing steadily (Colloca et al., 2013), fishing gear se- fish biomass and caused significant ecological changes lectivity has not achieved the expected results and seems in the global ocean (Jackson et al., 2001; Pauly & Zel- inadequate (Vasilakopoulos et al., 2014), and stocks are in ler, 2016). In recent years, increasing efforts to restore decline (Cardinale & Osio, 2013; Tsikliras et al., 2015). marine ecosystems and rebuild fisheries have succeeded Spatio-temporal restrictions of fishing activities and in improving the state of fisheries resources in some re- technical measures are the main tools used in the Medi-

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http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 03/10/2021 16:20:10 | terranean Sea for the management of fish stocks (Colloca review of existing information was based on reports, et al., 2013). Yet, the multitude of legislative instruments grey literature and maps, with or without georeferenced with diverse objectives often complicates management, information. Some of the major difficulties encountered surveillance, and the assessment of the efficiency of spa- by MEDISEH concerning the identification and mapping tial restrictions (Cacaud, 2005; Damalas et al., 2015). In of FRAs, included the problematic definition of locations, many Mediterranean countries, a thorough compilation gears and some regionally adopted measures, mainly due and mapping of all spatial restrictions pertaining to fish- to the fact that many national measures are described in ing is lacking and, thus, their extent and large-scale ef- laws without accompanying maps, or proper geographi- ficiency remains unknown. cal or geospatial information. Thus, in the FRAs database At national level, Greek legislation on spatio-tempo- created within the framework of the aforementioned pro- ral restrictions of fishing activities is remarkably complex ject, although almost all FRA entries included some form and characterized by extensive multi-regulation (Kapan- of spatial information, there were some cases where map- tagakis, 2007). A large number of Fisheries Restricted Ar- ping was not possible. According to the MEDISEH ex- 1 eas (FRAs) have been established mainly under the fish- perts’ team, after completion of the project, a large num- eries legal framework, but also the provisions of archae- ber of fisheries measures were still largely unrecorded, ological and maritime legislation. Therefore, the identi- and it was proposed that it would be worthwhile for the fication and mapping of national FRAs is an extremely FRAs database to be updated and enriched in the future 2 demanding procedure. The lack of official codification of (Papadopoulou et al., 2013). Furthermore, many new national legislation by the competent authorities renders FRAs have been established after 2013, mainly for the the procedures even more complicated. On the contrary, protection of Posidonia oceanica meadows. few spatio-temporal restrictions of fishing activities are Although many attempts have been made to compile, issued at European and international level with respect to review and map legislation concerning spatio-temporal Greek territorial waters and the legal framework is well- restrictions in the Aegean Sea, only patchy and difficult to defined. Thus, the identification and mapping procedure is combine information has been produced so far. Hence, the far less demanding. “where not to fish?” issue remains unclear and underlines Argyrakopoulos (2006) has published a useful guide- the need for an integrated approach to obtain a complete book/tool for fisheries sector stakeholders, i.e. profession- spatio-temporal restrictions database that is suitable for al and recreational fishers, port authorities and administra- analyses and mapping. tion officers etc., which includes a thorough compilation In the context of the current study, an up-to-date sys- of national fisheries and underwater archaeological legis- tematic review and unofficial codification of national lation. Unofficial codification of legal acts concerning all fisheries legislation, along with an up-to-date systematic issues of fishing activities (i.e. not only spatio-temporal review of environmental, archaeological and maritime restrictions), has been carried out, based on a historical re- legislation, on all spatio-temporal restrictions of fishing view of each legal act and the amendments that have been activities concerning all types of fishing gears, was per- implemented over the years. This guidebook also includes descriptive maps (as images) of most of the fisheries and formed from scratch for the Aegean Sea. In addition, the archaeological FRAs established at the time. FRAs established by the European Union and internation- In the context of the IMAS-Fish project 2003-2006 al fisheries organizations were identified. A database was (Kavadas et al., 2013), a Greek national and EU fisheries built, with detailed information for each FRA. Finally, all legislation archive was built within the multidisciplinary FRAs were mapped, as polygons in Geographic Informa- database management system that was developed, con- tion System (GIS) shapefiles and were incorporated in the taining fragmentary information and GIS maps for spe- database. The process was supported by the Greek Com- cific regulations, decisions, directives or decrees. How- petent Authorities for Fisheries Policy and Control, i.e. ever, due to restricted access for authorized users, it is not the Directorate General for Sustainable Fisheries, Minis- publically accessible. try of Rural Development and Food and the Directorate An attempt to review, identify and map existing FRAs for Fisheries Control of the Hellenic Coast Guard, Min- in the Mediterranean was made within the framework of istry of Shipping and Island Policy, in order to achieve the MEDISEH project (Giannoulaki et al., 2013). The common acceptance of the current study’s outcomes. The overall goal of this study was to identify and map the current distribution of spatio-temporal restrictions on 1 A Fisheries Restricted Area is a geographically-defined area, fishing activities in the Aegean Sea, and to provide scien- in which all or certain fishing activities are temporally or tific documentation for fisheries policy research, decision permanently banned or restricted, in order to improve the making, as well as monitoring, control and enforcement. In exploitation and conservation of harvested living aquatic addition, the national fisheries legal framework concerning resources or the protection of marine ecosystems (GFCM e-Glossary, 2016). these restrictions is critically examined, and its weaknesses 2 Codification is the process of officially bringing together a are identified and discussed. The information will help fish- legislative act and all its amendments in a single new act (EC eries managers in the area to reconsider the establishment of Legal Service, 2016). spatio-temporal restrictions on fishing activities, in line with

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http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 03/10/2021 16:20:10 | the provisions of the Common Fisheries Policy and the EU to archaeology (naFRAs) was retrieved from the Standing framework for Maritime Spatial Planning. List of Designated Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Greece, provided by the Directorate of Monument Ar- Materials and Methods chives of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports. As stated by the Directorate of Monument Archives (Listed Monuments, 2016), the list is informative and only the Study area texts of the legislative acts, as published in the Govern- The study area consists of the General Fisheries Com- ment Gazette (GG) have legal force. Hence, in all cases mission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) Geographic Sub- where a naFRA was identified in the List, the relevant GG Areas (GSAs) “22-Aegean Sea” and “23-Crete”, partly was retrieved from the National Printing Office, in order modified, to adapt to the needs of this study. In particu- to cross-check the information provided by the list. lar, the study area is defined as followed: the western and For the nFRAs established by maritime legislation northern borders coincide with the coastline of Greece, (nmFRAs), the list provided by the Directorate for Fisher- the eastern border coincides with the marine border be- ies Control of the Hellenic Coast Guard concerning the tween Greece and Turkey, the southern border coincides restriction of fishing activities in ports, beaches, - under with the simplified, smoothed 2,000 m bathymetric con- water cable/pipe areas, effluent sites, navigation chan- tour line, while in the south-eastern region, a small part nels, military areas and other sites, was used (DFC-HCG, (2,336 km2) of GSA “24-North Levantine” is joined to the 2016). Cross-checks with the relevant legal acts (i.e. MDs study area, in order to include Kastellorizo Island. Here- concerning General and Specific Port Regulations) as after, reference to GSA22 and GSA23 shall refer to the published in the GG, were also performed in the cases of relevant modified GFCM GSAs, as described above. Both nmFRA identifications. Greek territorial and international waters are included in National environmental, archaeological and maritime the study area. legal acts were not unofficially codified. The procedure to determine the provisions in force has already been fol- Review of Legislation and Identification of FRAs lowed by the competent authorities and thus only these provisions are included in the above mentioned lists. To delineate the national FRAs (nFRAs) established The FRAs established by the European Union (eu- by fisheries legislation in the study area, a systematic re- FRAs) were identified by reviewing EU fisheries legisla- view of the national fisheries legal framework, concern- tion. The official website of European Union Law was ac- ing spatio-temporal restrictions of fishing activities in ter- cessed (EUR-Lex, 2016) in order to retrieve the relevant ritorial (nfFRAs) and international waters (nifFRAs), was legal acts. Identification of the FRAs established by inter- performed. All legislative acts, i.e. Royal Decrees (RD), national fisheries organizations (intFRAs) and specifical- Presidential Decrees (PD), Ministerial Decisions (MD) ly by the Regional Fisheries Management Organization and Joint Ministerial Decisions (JMD), for the establish- (RFMO) General Fisheries Commission for the Mediter- ment of spatio-temporal restrictions in the study area were ranean (GFCM), was based on the information provided retrieved through the official website of the Greek Na- by the Compendium of Decisions of the GFCM (GFCM tional Printing Office (National Printing Office, 2016) and Decision Compendium, 2016). arranged in chronological order. It was decided that each spatio-temporal restrictions Due to the fact that the national fisheries legislation on certain fishing gears constitutes a unique FRA. An in force concerning spatio-temporal restrictions of fishing FRA code was attributed to each FRA. In cases where activities dates back to the 1940s, and that since then many spatio-temporal restrictions for different types of fishing legal acts have been corrected, amended or repealed, it gear apply to a given area, an FRA with a distinct code was decided that the national fisheries legislation should was considered for each gear. A database of all FRAs was be unofficially codified, in order to identify the provisions then built in Excel, containing detailed information for that are currently in force. Thus, unofficial codification each FRA, organized in separate fields (Table S1). was performed for all legislative acts concerning the es- The FRAs identified in the study area were classified tablishment of n FRAs. f according to (i) FRA type, i.e. nfFRA, nifFRA, neFRA, na- For the identification of the FRAs established by na- FRA, nmFRA, euFRA, intFRA; (ii) marine area, accord- tional environmental legislation (neFRAs), i.e. the FRAs es- ing to the National Statistical Service of Greece (NSSG), tablished within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), informa- i.e. 7-Gulf of Lakonia, 8- Gulf of Argolida and Saron- tion was retrieved from the List of Nationally Designated ikos Gulf, 10- Gulf of South and North Evia - Gulf of MPAs of Greece, provided by the Ministry of Environment Lamia, 11- Pagassitikos Gulf, 12- Eastern coasts of Evia and Energy (Protected Areas of Greece, 2016). The legal and Sporades Islands, 13- Thermaikos Gulf and Gulf of acts concerning the protection and management of these Chalkidiki, 14- Strimonikos, Kavala, Thassos, Thracian MPAs were retrieved from the National Printing Office, in Sea, 15- Islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos and Ikaria, 16- order to compile detailed information on the neFRAs. Dodekanissos, 17- Kyklades and 18-Kriti (Fig. S1); (iii) The necessary data for the review and identification geographic region, according to the official European of the FRAs established by national legislation relating Commission nomenclature of terrestrial units (NUTS) for

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http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 03/10/2021 16:20:10 | Statistics3, i.e. EL30 Attica, EL64 Central Greece, EL52 The area of each FRA and of FRA type per GSA and Central Macedonia, EL5 Eastern Macedonia & Thrace, type of closure was estimated, using ArcGIS tools. The EL41 North Aegean, EL65 Peloponnese, EL42 South total area of the seven FRA types was estimated by sum- Aegean, EL61 Thessaly and EL43 Crete (Fig. S1); (iv) ming up the respective values. The net area (i.e. the re- GFCM geographic sub-region, i.e. Aegean Sea-GSA 22 maining area after polygon overlaps were considered) of and Crete-GSA 23; (v) restricted gear type, i.e. towed, each FRA type per GSA and closure type, and the total mobile, static or their combinations4; (vi) purpose of es- net area of the seven FRA types were estimated by merg- tablishment, i.e. stock protection, Posidonia oceanica ing polygons and shapefiles, respectively, using ArcGIS beds protection, artificial reefs, nature reserve area,- ar software. chaeological site protection, port restrictions etc. and (vii) closure type, i.e. permanent or seasonal. The number (n), Results total number (N) and total percentage (%) of the FRAs identified per category was estimated. The national fisheries legal framework concerning spatio-temporal restrictions of fishing activities in the FRAs mapping study area comprises of a set of 32 legal acts, namely three The spatial information for each FRA was included in Ministerial Decisions (MDs), 10 Royal Decrees (RDs) and a unified Geographic Information System, using the ESRI 19 Presidential Decrees (PDs). The national environmen- ArcGIS 10.1 software package (ESRI, 2011). The Lam- tal legal framework concerning the spatio-temporal re- bert Azimuthal equal-area projection was used for map strictions of fishing activities within the designated MPAs, projection. Polygons in shapefile format for each FRA consists of two legal acts, one Joint Ministerial Decision were created from scratch, using the information obtained (JMD) and one PD. The spatio-temporal restrictions of from the relevant legal acts. fishing activities in the study area established by the na- tional legal framework for the protection of underwater In cases where available information on the delimi- archaeological heritage comprises of a set of 37 legal acts, tation of the FRAs was insufficient (e.g. unknown loca- six JMDs and 31 MDs, while national maritime legisla- tions, capes, beacons etc.), the contribution of the com- tion consists of 43 legal acts, all MDs (Table S3). The EU petent authorities, mainly the Coast Guard Services, was and GFCM legal framework concerning the establishment requested. The use of grey literature (e.g. Argyrakopou- of spatio-temporal restrictions of fishing activities in the los, 2006) and of supplementary material (e.g. navigation study area consists of one Regulation (EU Council Regu- maps, travel maps etc.) was also helpful in some cases. lation (EC) No 1967/2006) and one Recommendation Bathymetric contours, based on the bathymetry by Man- (GFCM Recommendation 29/2005/1), respectively. outsoglou (2016), were used for the delimitation of FRAs, The review of national fisheries, environmental, - ar when such contours were stated in the legislation. chaeological and maritime legislation concerning the The polygons in shapefile format, which correspond spatio-temporal restrictions of fishing activities in the to the n FRAs for otter bottom trawls, were kindly provid- f study area, revealed a total of 521 FRAs; specifically, 511 ed by the Directorate for Fisheries Control of the Hellenic nFRAs (253 n FRAs, 1 n FRA, 21 n FRAs, 85 n FRAs and Coast Guard. These files were checked, corrected (where f if e a 151 n FRAs), 6 euFRAs and 4 intFRAs. For each FRA, a needed), modified, and re-projected using the Lambert m wealth of detailed information was compiled (Table S3). Azimuthal equal-area projection. Furthermore, adjust- The FRAs identified are distributed throughout the ments were made in order for the polygons to be fitted to NSSG marine areas of the study area. Most FRAs are lo- the coastline used. cated in NSSG marine areas 15- Islands of Lesvos, Chios, The mapped polygons were grouped in different Samos and Ikaria (14.78%), 18-Kriti (13.82%) and 12- shapefiles, according to FRA type. Number (n), area (in 2 2 Eastern coasts of Evia and Sporades Islands. Regarding km ), net area (in km ) and net area percentage (%) per the geographic region of FRAs, the majority correspond FRA type, GSA and type of closure were estimated. to EL42-South Aegean (18.8%), EL-43 Crete (14.8%), EL41-North Aegean (14.0%) and EL64-Central Greece 3 The FRAs identified in the study area are attributed tothe (12.3%). Overall, 85.2% of the FRAs are located in the corresponding terrestrial geographic region/s for management Aegean Sea and 14.8% in Crete. In most of the FRAs purposes, i.e. in order to determine the corresponding Regional (88.5%), towed or mobile gears are restricted, while static Fisheries Department/s, that is/are the competent authority/ies gears are only restricted in 10.2% of the FRAs and rec- for the implementation and monitoring of the legal provisions reational fishing activity is only restricted in 1.3% of the on FRAs at regional level. FRAs. In terms of purpose of establishment, stock protec- 4 The fishing gear categories used to classify FRAs are in line tion and Posidonia oceanica beds protection are the most with the provisions of EU Commission Regulation (EC) No1799/2006, amending Regulation (EC) No 26/2004 on common reasons for restricting fishing activities (25.3 the Community fishing fleet register (EU Commission, 2006) and 25.0%, respectively). Most of the FRAs (85.4%) im- (Table S2). pose permanent closures (Table 1).

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6.3% 6.0% 5.4% 0.38% 8.25% 3.45% 8.64% 7.10% 8.06% 1.92% 0.96% 12.3% 10.4% 14.0% 18.8% 10.9% (%) 10.17% 12.28% 14.78% 10.17% 13.82% 100% (continued) TOTAL TOTAL FRA, nFRA FRA, nFRA if 2 5 53 43 18 64 45 37 77 42 53 10 72 33 64 54 31 73 28 98 57 (N) 521 TOTAL TOTAL 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 intFRA 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 euFRA FRA, nFRA established by legislation for the protection established by legislation FRA, nFRA a 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 FRA fi n 0 4 8 1 0 4 7 FRA 22 12 14 26 13 19 17 15 17 31 12 19 24 22 151 m n FRA, nFRA FRA, established nFRA by fisheries legislation in territorial waters; n f 1 6 0 0 4 2 0 9 2 0 0 2 0 2 0 5 4 85 27 34 23 15 FRA a n nFRA 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 20 20 FRA e n 1 4 3 0 25 30 14 39 24 31 25 34 11 23 13 33 48 19 31 16 59 FRA 253 f n N FRA, nFRA established by maritime legislation. FRA, nFRA m FRA TYPE FRA FRA, nFRA established by environmental legislation; n legislation; by environmental established FRA, nFRA e Categorization of the 521 Fisheries Restricted Areas (FRAs) identified in the study area (Aegean Sea-GSA22 and Crete-GSA23) per FRA type, marine areas according to NSSG MARINE AREA NSSG MARINE Aegean Sea 22 - GSA 7- Gulf of Lakonia 8- Gulf of Argolida and Saronikos Gulf Argolida 8- Gulf of 10- Gulf of South and North Evia - Lamia 11- Pagassitikos Gulf 11- 12- Eastern coasts of Evia and Sporades Islands 13- Thermaikos Gulf and of Chalkidiki 13- 14- Strimonikos, Kavala, Thassos, Thracian Sea Thassos, 14- Strimonikos, Kavala, 15- Islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos and Ikaria 16- Dodekanissos 17- Kyklades multi-NSSG marine areas* GSA 23 - Crete GSA 18- Kriti multi-NSSG marine areas* NUTS GEOGRAPHIC REGION Aegean Sea 22 - GSA Attica EL30 EL64 Central Greece EL52 Central Macedonia EL51 Eastern Macedonia and Thrace EL51 Eastern Macedonia and EL41 North Aegean EL65 Peloponnese EL42 South Aegean EL61 Thessaly Table Table 1. the National Statistical Service of Greece (NSSG), geographic region according to the official European Commissiongeographic sub-region (GSA), restricted nomenclaturegear type, establishment ofpurpose and closure type. terrestrialNumber (n), total unitsnumber (N) and (NUTS)total percentage (%) of forFRAs classified in Statistics, each category. GFCM euFRA, established FRA by the EU; intFRA, established FRA by international fisheries organizations; nFRA, national FRA; n of the underwater archaeological heritage; n heritage; of the underwater archaeological established by fisheries legislation in international waters; n

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http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 03/10/2021 16:20:10 | 1.2% 6.9% 1.3% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.4% 4.0% 7.7% 3.1% 0.8% 1.0% 9.0% 1.5% 6.0% 14.8% 15.9% 10.2% 28.6% 36.5% 25.3% 25.0% 16.3% 85.4% 14.6% Table S3. Table 6 7 1 1 1 2 4 5 8 77 83 36 53 21 85 40 16 47 31 76 149 190 132 130 445 2 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 3 3 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 8 15 23 40 16 47 31 34 121 117 . Details on their specific establishment purpose can be found in . 0 4 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 34 18 61 85 85 . 0 0 7 6 3 2 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 21 20 0 0 7 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 61 28 27 40 130 121 130 213 beds protection (continued) multi-NUTS geographic regions** GSA 23 - Crete GSA 43 Crete EL RESTRICTED GEAR TYPE RESTRICTED GEAR towed mobile static recreational towed, mobile towed, mobile, static towed, mobile, recreational towed, recreational mobile, recreational ESTABLISHMENT PURPOSE ESTABLISHMENT stock protection Posidonia oceanica artificial reefs nature reserve areas archaeological sites beaches cables, pipes channels military facilities ports waste effluent other*** CLOSURE TYPE CLOSURE permanent seasonal * FRAs which are extended at more than one NSSG marine areas classified in this category ** FRAs which correspond to more than one NUTS geographic regions are classified in this category *** FRAs which are established for purposes other than those mentioned above classified in this category Table 1. Table

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http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 03/10/2021 16:20:10 | (%) for that 9.1% 0.2% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.4% 1.3% 8.2% 1.2% 1.1% 0.4% 1.0% 51.1% 16.9% 14.4% 23.4% 2 21.4% 22.6% 56.2% 13.5% 10.7% 17.8% Area Net Percentage ), Net Area* (in Area* ), Net 2 ) 2 0 0 81 52 761 680 Net 8318 Area Area 3,246 2,359 2,176 2,307 2,176 (km 48,112 18,143 28,799 29,969 22,862 38,007 25,553 14,544 38,007 119,832 Total FRA, nFRA established by established FRA, nFRA m ) 2 0 0 81 52 764 683 Area 4,901 2,359 8,936 5,637 2,307 5,637 (km 96,223 36,285 44,480 59,938 56,994 38,007 39,579 48,058 38,007 244,465 4 2 6 2 3 1 3 0 0 1 n 85 15 34 23 21 51 21 516 248 151 136 225 FRA, nFRA established by environmental established FRA, nFRA e

(%) 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 6.8% 1.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 9.5% 1.0% 0.1% 23.3% 21.4% 27.6% 17.8% Net Area Area Net Percentage Percentage ) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 281 252 2,172 8,287 2,172 (km 58,915 20,336 38,007 12,049 38,007 Area Net for the part of the study area included in GSA 22 and 35,524 km area included in GSA for the part of study 2 ) ging respective polygons and shapefiles using ArcGIS software. ging respective polygons and shapefiles using Seasonal 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 281 252 2172 A r e a 2,172 8,477 (km 81,077 40,617 38,007 32,140 38,007 (177,644 km 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 n 76 40 34 33 38

FRA, nFRA established by FRA, fisheriesnFRA legislation in international waters; n if (%) 9.1% 0.1% 0.1% 1.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.2% 1.3% 4.6% 0.0% 1.0% 1.1% 4.1% 0.0% 0.9% 0.2% 51.1% 16,9% 14.4% 22.6% 38.0% 13.5% Net Area Area Net Percentage ) 2 0 0 0 0 51 52 482 415 431 3246 2,359 8,635 1,833 2,307 8,221 1,833 (km 48,112 80,943 18,143 29,969 28,799 25,553 Area Net Permanent ) 2 0 0 0 0 51 52 483 459 432 Area 4,901 2,359 3,466 2,307 3,466 (km 96,223 36,285 59,938 44,480 16,377 39,579 15,918 163,388 4 2 2 6 3 0 3 0 0 0 n 85 20 14 34 21 51 20 117 440 208 103 187 FRA, nFRA established by legislation for the protection of the underwater archaeological heritage; n heritage; archaeological underwater the of protection the for by legislation established FRA, nFRA a

Total 22+23 23 22 22+23 23 22+23 22+23 22+23 22+23 22+23 22 23 23 GSA 23 23 23 22 22

22 22 22 FRAs ft FRA, nFRA established by FRA, fisheriesnFRA legislation in territorial waters; n f ) and Net Area Percentage** (%) of FRAs per GSA and type of closure (permanent or seasonal). euFRA, FRA established by the EU; intFRA, FRA established by international fisheries international by established FRA intFRA, EU; the by established FRA euFRA, seasonal). or (permanent closure of type and GSA per FRAs of (%) Percentage** Area Net and ) FRAs FRAs FRAs FRAs 2 if e a m International Decisions Organizations’ FRAs, intFRAs National Maritime Legislation FRAs, n National Fisheries Legislation FRAs in international waters, n National Environmental National Environmental Legislation FRAs, n European Union European Legislation FRAs, euFRAs FRA Type FRA National Archaeological Archaeological National Legislation FRAs, n National Fisheries Legislation FRAs in territorial waters, n * Net area is the remaining after polygon overlaps have been considered. areas estimated by mer ArcGIS software and found equal to 213,168 km The total area of the study was calculated using ** legislation; n legislation; organizations; nFRA, national FRA; n nFRA, national organizations; Grouping of the 516 Fisheries Restricted Areas (FRAs) mapped in the study area (Aegean Sea-GSA22 and Crete-GSA 23) per FRA type. Number (n), Area (in km Area (in (n), Number type. 23) per FRA Sea-GSA22 and Crete-GSA (Aegean study area the in Areas (FRAs) mapped Restricted 516 Fisheries 2. Grouping of the Table included in GSA 23). included in GSA km maritime legislation.

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http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 03/10/2021 16:20:10 | Fig. 1: Map of the 440 permanent Fisheries Restricted Areas (FRAs) identified in the study area (Aegean Sea-GSA 22 and Crete-GSA

23) per FRA type, i.e. 208 national fisheries legislation FRAs in territorial waters (nfFRAs), 20 national environmental legislation FRAs

(neFRAs), 85 national archaeological legislation FRAs (naFRAs), 117 national maritime legislation FRAs (nmFRAs), 6 European Union legislation FRAs (euFRAs) and 4 General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) Decisions’ FRAs (intFRAs).

Fig. 2: Map of the 76 seasonal Fisheries Restricted Areas (FRAs) identified in the study area (Aegean Sea-GSA22 and Crete-GSA23) per FRA type, i.e. 40 national fisheries legislation FRAs in territorial waters (nfFRAs), 1 national fisheries legislation FRA in interna- tional waters (nifFRA), 1 national environmental legislation FRA (neFRA) and 34 national maritime legislation FRAs (nmFRAs).

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http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 03/10/2021 16:20:10 | The final component of the FRAs mapping procedure and Energy, the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the was a total of 516 polygons in shapefile format, of which Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy within the context 484 were created from scratch, while 32 were kindly pro- of national environmental, archaeological and maritime vided by the Directorate of Fisheries Control of the Hel- legislation, respectively. lenic Coast Guard. It was not possible to create polygons On the contrary, the European and international legal for five FRAs, due to the lack of the very shallow two- frameworks concerning spatio-temporal restrictions on metre contour (four cases) or due to the lack of informa- fishing activities in the study area are clear and definite. tion on the exact location of fish farms (one case). They both consist of a single legal act, i.e. a Regulation The 516 polygons mapped were grouped according issued by the Council of the European Union and a Rec- to GSA, FRA type and type of closure (permanent or sea- ommendation issued by the GFCM, respectively. These sonal) (Table 2, Figs 1 and 2). In terms of number, most of frameworks have not been amended since they entered the FRAs identified and mapped in the study area (248 out into force. of 516 FRAs) have been established by the provisions of The national restrictions on fishing activities, issued national fisheries legislation in territorial waters (n FRAs) f by virtue of fisheries legislation (i.e.f n FRAs), are es- and cover 10.7% of the study area (Table 2, Figs S2 & tablished typically as conventional fishery management S3). One FRA has been established by national fisheries measures, e.g. in order to limit the harvest of specific life legislation in international waters (nifFRA) and covers stages, to protect depleted stocks and their habitats dur- 17.8% of the study area (Table 2, Fig. S4). The contri- ing the rebuilding phase of a fishery, to protect genetic bution of national maritime, archaeological and environ- reservoirs, to protect habitat that is critical for the sustain- mental legislation to the FRAs established in the study ability of harvested resources or to restrain excess fleet area, is substantial in terms of numbers (151 nmFRAs, 85 capacity and optimize the value of catches (Hall, 2002). naFRAs and 21 out of 516 FRAs), but in terms of area The restrictions on fishing activities within the nationally coverage, their contribution is low (0.4%, 1.1% and 1.0% designated MPAs according to the environmental legal of the study area, respectively) (Table 2, Figs S5-S9). The framework (neFRAs) are imposed as wider conserva- number of FRAs established at European (euFRAs) and tion measures, to conserve nature and protect habitats. international (intFRAs) level in the study area is smaller The FRAs designated according to the national maritime than at national level (6 and 4 out of 516, respectively), (i.e. nmFRAs) and archaeology (i.e. naFRAs) legislation, but they are the most significant ones in terms of area, as although irrelevant to fisheries management, as they are they cover 13.5% and 22.6% of the study area, respec- measures established in order to regulate maritime ac- tively (Table 2, Figs S10-S13). It is worth mentioning that tivities and to protect underwater archaeological heritage, all FRAs identified and mapped in the study area cover also contribute to some degree to the protection of fisher- approximately 56.2% of the study area; 38.0% of the ies resources and the conservation of the marine environ- study area is covered by permanent and 27.6% by sea- ment. Spatial and temporal closures, established at Euro- sonal FRAs (Table 2, Figs 1 and 2). pean and international level in the study area, are issued In most of the FRAs mapped in the study area, re- as wider conservation measures rather than conventional strictions on fishing activities concern the use of towed fisheries management measures, as they are established and mobile gears (in 423 and 376 out of the 516 FRAs, not only for the sustainability of fisheries resources, but respectively), while the use of static gears is restricted in also for the protection of demersal and deep-water habi- approximately half of the FRAs identified (in 238 out of tats and species. 516 FRAs). It was estimated that towed, mobile and stat- The complexity of the national legal framework on ic gears are permanently prohibited in 38.0%, 3.2% and spatio-temporal restrictions of fishing activities in the 2.4% of the study area, respectively (Table 3). study area could be attributed, to some extent, to the fact that the coastal and marine area of the Aegean Sea is a val- Discussion uable natural resource, where many profitable economic activities take place by different stakeholders (Stergiou et The national legal framework concerning spatial and al., 2016). In such cases, the different (and usually incom- temporal restrictions on fishing activities in the Aegean patible) activities should be strictly and clearly regulated Sea is remarkably complex, as it consists of numerous in order to resolve conflicts over multiple-use of areas or provisions, enabled by many legal acts (which in many resources, including conflicts of marine users with con- cases have also been amended), issued by various man- servation (Hall, 2002; Katsanevakis et al., 2011). agement bodies, aiming to regulate different and usually Indeed, the study area has unique characteristics, in conflicting activities in the marine environment. The na- terms of geomorphology, which also formulate many tional FRAs identified in the study area are enabled by of the activities that take place in the area. The Aegean legal acts issued mainly by the Ministry of Rural Devel- Sea covers an area of approximately 200,000 km2 (which opment and Food within the context of national fisher- corresponds to nearly 7% of the total Mediterranean Sea ies legislation, but also by the Ministry of Environment area); it has a lengthy coastline of approximately 12,000

318 Medit. Mar. Sci., 18/2, 2017, 310-323

http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 03/10/2021 16:20:10 | ), 2 (%) 0.0% 1.2% 0.4% 4.2% 7.2% 1.0% 3.6% 9.9% 23.5% 60.4% 52.7% 54.0% Net Area Area Net Percentage Percentage ) 2 131 2,179 0.195 2,179 7,667 7,536 8,340 (km 21,058 12,718 21,471 93,646 115,117 Net Area Area Net Total ) 2 132 A re a 2,253 0.195 2,253 8,913 (km 22,552 22,419 25,276 16,362 41,567 203,163 161,596 1 9 n 10 48 60 67 238 190 376 316 423 356

(%) 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 3.9% 4.3% 0.5% 0.0% 3.3% 7.4% 23.3% 26.6% 22.2% Net Area Area Net Percentage Percentage ging respective polygons and shapefiles using ArcGIS software. ging respective polygons and shapefiles using ) 2 0 0 29 190 0.030 6,980 6,951 8,287 7,591 (km 15,878 47,397 47,207 Net Area Area Net Seasonal (177,644 km2 for the part of the study area included in GSA 22 and 35,524 km2 for that (177,644 km2 for the part of study area included in GSA 2 ) 2 0 0 29 190 A r e a 0.028 8,287 8,319 (km 16,394 16,365 16,606 51,177 50,987 1 0 1 1 1 1 n 46 45 42 41 51 50

(%) 0.0% 1.2% 0.3% 2.9% 1.6% 3.6% 1.0% 2.4% 3.2% 60.3% 33.5% 38.0% Net Area Area Net Percentage Percentage ) 2 103 559 Net Area Area 2,179 0.190 2,179 5,209 5,106 6,872 6,313 (km 80,907 21,412 59,495 Permanent ) 2 103 626 Area Area 2,253 0.195 2,253 6,158 6,055 8,670 8,043 (km 41,377 110,609 151,986 9 1 8 n 47 59 66 192 145 334 275 372 306 22+23 23 22 22+23 23 22 22+23 23 22 22+23 23 GSA 22 ) and Net Area Percentage** (%) of FRAs per GSA and type of closure (permanent or seasonal). and type of closure Area Percentage** (%) of FRAs per GSA ) and Net 2 Recreational Static Mobile Restricted Type Gear Towed * Net area is the remaining after polygon overlaps have been considered. areas estimated by mer ArcGIS software and found equal to 213,168 km The total area of the study was calculated using ** included in GSA 23). included in GSA Net Area* (in km Net Grouping of the 516 Fisheries Restricted Areas (FRAs) mapped in the study area (Aegean Sea-GSA22 and Crete-GSA23) per restricted gear type. Number (n), Area (in km Areas (FRAs) mapped in the study area (Aegean Sea-GSA22 gear type. Number (n), and Crete-GSA23) per restricted 3. Grouping of the 516 Fisheries Restricted Table

Medit. Mar. Sci., 18/2, 2017, 310-323 319

http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 03/10/2021 16:20:10 | km and includes numerous islands and islets. Thus, the of Greek fisheries (Moutopoulos & Stergiou, 2011), dur- Aegean Sea has a long-standing tradition and history in ing which they started to modernize and expand to fish- the fisheries and maritime sector. Indeed, fisheries repre- ing grounds not previously exploited. In the mid-1960s, sent a primary sector of significant socio-economic im- fisheries monitoring, research and legislation started to be portance, particularly in coastal, traditionally fisheries- organized in parallel with the development of a well-or- dependent, areas. The maritime sector is also significant ganized transportation system, through the establishment in the area, as it provides the exclusive means of trans- of wholesale fish markets throughout Greece (Ananiadis, portation between the islands and the mainland, and also 1968; Moutopoulos & Stergiou, 2011). During the fol- because the Aegean Sea is at the crossroads of three con- lowing period, from the 1970s to the mid-1990s (1970- tinents (Asia, Africa and Europe) with significant cargo 1994), when 26 more FRAs were established by the pro- vessel traffic. Archaeology is also important, due to the visions of 17 legal acts, Greek fisheries passed through a rich . In the coastal part of the study area, “fully to over-exploited phase”, as a consequence of the in particular, many antiquities are underwater and close modernization observed during the previous period, and to the coast (with the exception of offshore archaeologi- also participation in a series of development programs, as cal shipwreck sites), requiring protection especially from a result of Greece’s accession to the European Union in towed fishing gears. 1981 (Moutopoulos & Stergiou, 2011). A more detailed look at the fisheries sector in the Thus, it could be hypothesized that the FRAs estab- study area reveals that, in terms of number of vessels, the lished during the “growth phase” and the “fully to over- Greek fishing fleet5 is the largest in the European Union, exploited phase” of the Greek fisheries sector, were des- (EC, 2016). Small-scale coastal fishing vessels constitute ignated as a means to resolve equity issues. There are the largest part of the Greek fishing fleet (Stergiou et al., cases worldwide where a fishery manager might choose 2007 a, b) as they correspond to 96% of the total fleet to adopt an area or time closure to resolve conflicts of (National Fleet Register, 2016). interests between different stakeholders in the area rather The complex and multi-regulated legal framework than to provide fisheries management measures or even concerning the FRAs in the study area, along with its conservation measures in a wider sense (Hall, 2002). This unique geomorphological features (long coastline, large hypothesis is based on the fact that, during the “growth area, numerous islands, large fishing fleet) and the multi- phase”, no systematically collected fisheries data and rel- gear and multi-species character of Greek fisheries (main- evant documentation were available to fisheries managers ly performed by small-scale vessels: Stergiou et al., 2007 for them to impose fisheries management measures. On a, b) make monitoring, surveillance, control and enforce- the other hand, during the “fully to over-exploited phase”, ment of management measures an extremely challenging fisheries focused on the development of a strong and prof- procedure. itable sector and little or even no attention was paid to the Apart from its complexity, the national legal frame- impacts of intensive fishing of natural resources. work on spatio-temporal restrictions of fishing activities From 1995 to 2007, Greek fisheries passed through in the study area is considerably old, especially in the a “decaying phase” (1995-2007), when the overexploi- case of national fisheries legislation. Indeed, the first FRA tation of fisheries resources resulted in a considerable in the Aegean Sea dates back to the early 1940s, when decline in Greek fisheries landings, clearly showing that it was established by the provisions of the RD of 1940 fisheries resources were not sustainably harvested (Ster- (GG243A), concerning the permanent closure of a spe- giou et al., 1997; 2007a; 2007b; Moutopoulos & Stergiou, cific area in Evoikos gulf for the traditional small-scale 6 2011). During this period, 57 FRAs were established by fishing method called “volasma” , using trammel nets. the provisions of 3 legal acts, which were issued at the It is estimated that approximately one fourth of the very end of this period (specifically in 2006 and 2007, total national fisheries FRAs were established between while from 1995 to 2005 no FRAs were established). It is the early 1940s and the early 1970s (62 out of a total of probable that these are the first attempts of Greek fisheries 254 FRAs, by the provisions of 8 out of a total of 32 legal managers to impose spatio-temporal restrictions of fish- acts). This period is characterized as the “growth phase” ing activities as fisheries management measures, because they had started to become familiar with the concepts of 5 According to the EU Fishing Fleet Register (situation as in overexploitation of fisheries resources and the need for September 2015), the Greek fishing fleet comprised of 15,638 sustainable exploitation in the future. vessels (18.4% of the total EU fleet), with a combined gross Indeed, since the mid-1990s, the concept of the Eco- tonnage of 76,573 GT (4.7% of the total EU gross tonnage) system Approach to Fisheries Management was highlight- and a total engine power of 449,534 kW (6.9% of the EU total ed in fisheries management literature (FAO, 1995; Chris- engine power) (EC, 2016) 6 “volasma” refers to a fishing method aiming to create sounds tensen et al., 1996; Pitcher & Pauly, 1998; Sinclair et al., that scare fish and consequently leads them towards the set nets 2002; FAO, 2003; Garcia, 2003; Sutinen & Soboil, 2003; (Andrianos, 1987) Garcia & Cochrane, 2005). Also, in the early 2000s, the

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http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 03/10/2021 16:20:10 | Common Fisheries Policy of the EU was reformed7, since marine areas (…) are conserved through effectively and it was realized that the measures introduced so far, were equitably managed, ecologically representative and well- not sufficiently effective to halt overfishing, and thus the connected systems of protected areas and other effective depletion of many fish stocks continued at an increasingly area-based conservation measures”. faster pace. Moreover, in year 2000, an EU framework Finally, this study is the first step for future assess- for the collection and management of fisheries data was ment of the effectiveness of the current legal framework established, by Council Regulation (EC) No 1543/ 2000, on the spatio-temporal restrictions on fishing activities. A setting precise rules and practices commonly implement- comprehensive national evaluation of the effectiveness of ed by all Member States for the collection, management spatio-temporal restrictions has not yet been performed in and distribution of fisheries data, needed for scientific ad- the Aegean Sea. Such an evaluation should be viewed as a vice, by fisheries managers. Finally, during the same pe- necessity within the framework of the Common Fisheries riod, EU and International FRAs were established in the Policy, and for efficient management of marine space, in area (in 2006 and 2005 respectively), which emphasizes accordance with the principles of Maritime Spatial Plan- the fact that the problem of overexploitation of fisheries ning and adaptive management. resources and the urgent need to address it adequately, was also indisputable at European and International level. Acknowledgements The results of the current study provide scientific doc- umentation to support (a) fishers: both the reviewing and This work is part of the first author’s PhD Thesis mapping results of the study clarify the issue of where, “Maritime Spatial Planning in the Aegean Sea with em- when, by which gear and which legal act has imposed phasis on fisheries management”, conducted at the De- prohibitions on fishing activities; (b) fisheries policy: the partment of Marine Science of the University of the Aege- identification of the current spatio-temporal distribution an. It is a contribution to the Research Projects “PROTO- of fishing restrictions sets the basis for fisheries policy MEDEA - Towards the establishment of Marine Protected decision-making in the future; (c) fisheries control: the Area Networks in the Eastern Mediterranean”, supported GIS mapping of the FRAs could optimize surveillance, as by DG for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the Europe- it can be incorporated in the national Fisheries Monitoring an Commission, under Grant Agreement SI2.721917 and Centre in order to provide real-time infringement detec- “MARISCA -ΜΑRItime Spatial planning for the protec- tion; and (d) scientific research: the GIS mapping of the tion and Conservation of the biodiversity in the Aegean FRAs is a necessary tool to estimate fishing effort (Kava- sea”, co-funded by the European Environmental Area Fi- das et al., 2015) and to identify fishing grounds (Maina nancial Mechanism, (EEA FM 2009-2014) and the Pub- et al., 2016) that can be used in modelling population lic Investments Program (PIP). We thank Marina Petrou, dynamics. Dimitra Savvopoulou and two anonymous reviewers for In a wider context, the mapping of FRAs in the study their useful comments on an earlier version of the manu- area provides useful documentation for the establishment script. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recom- and implementation of maritime spatial planning, under mendations expressed in this material are those of the au- the provisions of Directive 2014/89/EU. The overall aim thors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European of maritime spatial planning is to ensure the sustainability Commission or the authors’ affiliated institutions. of marine ecosystems and the services provided to hu- mans, and to deal with conflicts among various users of the seas (Katsanevakis et al., 2011); to that end, mapping References the spatial distribution of human activities and of exist- ing management measures is a necessary initial step (St- Ananiadis, K.I., 1968. Greek fisheries. 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