Artisanal Fishery Communities in the Western and Central Mediterranean, Especially Vis-À-Vis the Southern Part of the Mediterranean
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Artisanal fishery in the Cilento area, Italy ARTFIMED EVOLUTION OF THE ARTISANAL FISHERY IN CILENTO, ITALY - CASE STUDY - F. COLLOCA, V. CRESPI, S. CERASI & S.R. COPPOLA Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Rome, September 2003 i Artisanal fishery in the Cilento area, Italy INDEX Page 1. INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................. 1 1.1 Definition of artisanal fishery................................................................... 2 1.2 General situation of the Italian fishery...................................................... 3 1.3 Italian fisheries legislation........................................................................ 3 1.4 Situation of Campania fisheries ................................................................ 4 2. STUDY AREA................................................................................................... 5 2.2. Environmental characteristics................................................................... 8 2.3 Main ports of Cilento .............................................................................. 10 3. MATERIALS AND METHODS ..................................................................... 13 3.1 Sampling design...................................................................................... 13 3.2 Data collection......................................................................................... 14 3.3 Data analysis ........................................................................................... 15 4. CATCH AND EFFORT DATA....................................................................... 18 4.1 Fishing fleet............................................................................................. 18 4.2 Fishing métiers ........................................................................................ 23 4.3 Catch and landings .................................................................................. 32 4.4 Fishing effort........................................................................................... 37 5. SOCIO-ECONOMIC STRUCTURE OF ARTISANAL FISHERY................ 44 5.1 Ownership and working conditions......................................................... 44 5.2 Social structure........................................................................................ 45 5.3 Invested capital........................................................................................ 46 5.4 Costs-Incomes of artisanal fisheries........................................................ 46 6. CLASSIFICATION OF CILENTO ARTISANAL FISHERIES ..................... 52 7. CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................................. 54 8. RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................. 57 9. REFERENCES ................................................................................................. 59 ii Artisanal fishery in the Cilento area, Italy 1. INTRODUCTION Artisanal fisheries sector involves several countries and encompasses many types of fishing gear and methods. Its resources, shared among various parties, move from one region to another, and the size of the fish catch varies from country to country, as does its economical value. The FAO-COPEMED Project, through its initiatives, offered the possibility of starting a programme of work to study this sector in depth in its area of competence (Algeria, France, Italy, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia). At present, the various official national statistical systems cannot take into account the high variability of all the components in this sector. The FAO-COPEMED project funded the case study in Cilento for the reasons previously explained in the background section of this document. The aims of the case study are the following: • Definition of sampling strategies and data collection routines for the selected site. • Analysis of short-term and long-term temporal changes in artisanal fishing activities. • Identification of biological and socio-economic indicators that could be used as a tool to assess the status of the local Artisanal Fisheries. • Elaborate methodologies and routines that can be applied in similar areas of southern Mediterranean Sea. The Cilento area, situated in the Campania region, was selected on the basis of several factors: - First of all, its structural, economical and social importance within the artisanal fishery communities in the Western and Central Mediterranean, especially vis-à-vis the southern part of the Mediterranean. - Secondly, the proved interest of the fishermen to collaborate - And, thirdly, the availability of and access to detailed data from a previous survey carried out in 1994-1995. As far as the availability of historical data is concerned, this refers to a study on traditional fishing activities in the Italian region of Cilento (southern Tyrrhenian Sea) supported by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture Resources carried out during 1994-1995 through periodic surveys at the main landing sites. The main objectives of the study were: ! to assess dimensions and characteristics of fishing activities (fleet, fishing gears, target species, fishing areas and periods, catch composition, landings and CPUEs); ! to identify management measures to enforce artisanal fishing activities. In the last 20 years artisanal fishery has been reducing its economic importance in the area, as can generally be seen along the Italian coasts. The main factors in this process are linked to the socio-economic development of coastal areas with the growth of the tourism industry. During the five year period (1995-2000) traditional fishing activities in the coastal zone have been partially replaced by new activities, such as aquaculture, fishing-tourism (“pesca- 1 Artisanal fishery in the Cilento area, Italy turismo”), and tourist pleasure-boating along the coasts. In the forthcoming years the creation of Marine Reserves will accelerate these changes. This study was undertaken because of the: • Acknowledged importance of artisanal fisheries in the region. • Reduction of artisanal fishing activities along the Italian coasts over the last 20 years. • Lack of quantitative data on fishing activities. • Inadequate knowledge of the factors involved in the development process. • Contribution to the development of new integrated management plans. 1.1 Definition of artisanal fishery By "artisanal fishery" is intended small capital investment, mostly by the owner fishermen, as opposed to "industrial fishing" which implies significant investments by companies or financial groups. Artisanal fishing is often associated with the notion of "coastal fishing", i.e., essentially fisheries located on the continental shelf, or very close to it, exploiting areas which can be reached in a few hours from the ports or beaches where the fishermen are based. Consequently, this type of activity does not imply a very long stay at sea. Another characteristic of artisanal fishing is that it employs a great number of workmen at sea as well as at the landing place. Fishing gears are extremely diversified and the fleets are generally composed of a large number of boats, mostly of low tonnage, based in a multitude of ports and shelters (Farrugio, 1996). From the activity point of view, there are also situations in the artisanal fishery where the fishing activity pattern is not dictated by the target species, the season, or the type of gear used within the same community, but rather by a sort of unwritten self-management plan of the whole fishery. One can imagine small vessel fishermen interacting with larger vessel activity during the tuna and large pelagic fishery season, the lampuka fishing season and other activities (including some tourist agriculture and other economic and non-economic commitments) as one ensemble (Coppola, 2000). In the inventory exercise (FAO-COPEMED study) a comparative analysis of practices, terminology and interpretation of artisanal fisheries in each country was undertaken. This enabled a standardised method to define Artisanal Fisheries in the Region to be established. Artisanal Fishery is defined as the combination of the Port Gear (métier) Target Species Fishing Zone Season All métiers are included in artisanal fisheries except for those practised with the following gear: " trawl nets " large seines for small pelagics (other than those using lampara) " gear targeting large pelagics (purse seines, longlines, drift nets, stationary uncovered pound nets –madragues-, tuna rods, trolling lines) " hydraulic mollusc dredges " large longliners 2 Artisanal fishery in the Cilento area, Italy 1.2 General situation of the Italian fishery The main bulk of the Italian fisheries can, therefore, be considered as "artisanal" and "coastal" except for the recent evolution of a few fleets towards a nearly "industrial" type of activity. According to official statistics, the Italian fleet is composed of 19.798 fishing vessels, as recorded in the maritime authority’s fishing licence archives. The most important sector is represented by small-scale fishery with 12.482 fishing vessels (63% of the total fleet), followed by: polyvalent (3.767 vessels); trawlers (2.370 vessels); dredgers, using hydraulic dredges (755 vessels); purse seiners (277 vessels) and twin pelagic trawlers "volanti a coppia" (147 vessels). Total gross tonnage is 230.018, 14% of which belongs to artisanal fishery. The total engine