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8.9 Azores Case Study

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8.9 Azores Case Study This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under grant agreement no. 633680 8.9 Azores case study Partners: IMAR-UAz (Portugal) 8.9.1 Introduction The Azores is an oceanic archipelago in the mid North Atlantic Ocean, between the continental Europe and North America (Figure 36). It has a vast exclusive economic zone of 1 million km² and largely contributes to the Portuguese claimed 2.1 million km² extended continental shelf. The seafloor is mostly deep but over 100 seamounts, a fraction of the Mid Atlantic Ridge, and the slopes of the islands compose the shallowest parts. After the first expeditions to the deep sea in the late 19th century, extensive scientific research based in the Azores has opened a window on the functioning of large oceanic, deep-sea and seamount ecosystems and on the impacts of human activities in such ecosystems. www.discardless.eu This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under grant agreement no. 633680 Figure 36: The Azores archipelago, its exclusive economic zone, 100-mile limit to EU vessels, area prohibited to bottom trawling, FAO statistical area, and ICES rectangles. With the absence of a continental shelf and surrounding great depths, fishing occurs around the island slopes and the many seamounts present in the area (Silva and Pinho, 2007; Morato et al., 2008). Commercial whaling was the first large-scale commercial fishery, peaking in the 1940s and decreasing by the 1960s, being substituted with the more profitable fisheries such as the pole-and-line tuna and demersal fisheries using handlines (Martin and Melo, 1983). The Azorean fishing industry saw significant changes during the 1980s as bottom and surface longlines were introduced (Pereira, 1988; Menezes, 1996). Today, the Azorean fishing industry is composed of five main components: a small-net fishery for small pelagic species (blue jack mackerel, Trachurus picturatus, and chub mackerel, Scomber colias) with total catch of 1,500 t in 2010 (data obtained from Lotaçor, 2011), a pole-and-line tuna fishery (14,000 t in 2010), bottom longline and handline targeting mainly deep-sea demersal fishes such as blackspot seabream (Pagellus bogaraveo), wreckfish (Polyprion americanus), alfonsinos (Beryx spp.) or the blackbelly rosefish (Helicolenus dactylopterus) with total catch of 3,000 t in 2010, drifting bottom longline for black scabbardfish (Aphanopus carbo), and pelagic longline targeting swordfish (Xiphias gladius). The current fishery resource management strategy of the Azores is based on the EU Common Fishery Policy, implemented primarily through total allowable catches (TACs) for various species including blackspot seabream, alfonsinos, and deepwater sharks such as Deania spp., Centrophorus spp., Etmopterus spp., Centroscymnus spp., and kitefin shark (Dalatias licha) (EC Reg. 2340/2002; EC Reg. 2270/2004). Apart from fish quotas, the regional government of the Azores has implemented technical measures over the years, such as minimum landing sizes or weights, minimum mesh sizes, limitation of licences for some specific gears (e.g. trammel nets), area and temporal closures, and bans on the use of specific gear. An example is the Azores regulation that prohibited deep-sea trawling, which recently became an EC regulation (EC 1568/2005). Recently, the reported and the illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) catches inside the Azores EEZ were estimated for all fishing fleets from 1950 to 2010 (Pham et al., 2013) as 0.9 million t. This value is 111,000 t higher than the amount reported in official Azorean statistics (15%), excluding whales and catch landed outside the Azores that cannot be considered to be true IUU fishing as it is actually landed and entered into fishery statistics elsewhere (Pham et al., 2013). The overall low level of unreported catches compared to other locations reflects the small-scale nature of the fisheries, the geographic isolation of the islands, and the small size of its community. Unreported catches from the bottom longline fishery represent one of the largest part of IUU catches in the Azores (Pham et al. 2013). A recent study has described some of the discard patterns in the region (Canha, 2013). About 90 species of bony fish and elasmobranchs are regularly discarded (i.e. returned unwanted catches to the sea) by the fisherman operating this multi-specific gear (Canha, 2013). However, the bulk of the discards (80% of all rejected individuals) can be attributed to only three species (P. bogaraveo, H. dactylopterus and B. splendens). It was suggested that the establishment of a TAC system for the multispecific bottom fishery greatly increased discard rates of deep-sea species www.discardless.eu This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under grant agreement no. 633680 without decreasing catch levels. Such unreported mortality undermines the effectiveness of the TAC system to manage those species, as was previously suggested for other European fisheries. Discards from bottom longline is of concern because it includes many deep-water sharks listed in the IUCN red list of endangered species. For example, the “critically endangered” blue skate (Dipturus batis), the “near threatened” kitefin shark (Dalatias licha), greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), and Portuguese dogfish (Centroscymnus coelolepis), the “vulnerable” leafscale gulper shark (Centrophorus squamosus) and gulper shark (Centrophorus granulosus), and the “least concern” arrowhead dogfish (Deania profundorum), birdbeak dogfish (Deania calcea), longnose velvet dogfish (Centroscymnus crepidater), and the smooth lanternshark (Etmopterus pusillus). 8.9.2 The fisheries The Azores case study will focus on discards from the deep-sea fishery inside the EEZ: the bottom hook and-line (longline and handline) and drifting bottom longline (seeTable 39). The bottom hook-and-line (which includes LLS-DEF2, LLS-DEF1 and LHP_FIF1) is the most important fishery in the region both in terms of landed value, number of boats and jobs (Carvalho et al., 2011). It is considered a small scale fishery operating all year round from coastal areas to offshore seamounts. Since 2000, the use of bottom longlines (LLS-DEF1 and LLS- DEF2) in the coastal areas has significantly been reduced, as a result of the banning of its use in a range of 3 miles from the shore (Morato et al., 2012). As a consequence, the smaller boats that operate in this area have changed their gears to several types of handlines (LHP_FIF1), which may have increased the pressure on some species. According to Carvalho et al. (2011), in 2005 there were about 75 bottom longliners of different sizes operating in the Azores while the number of handline boats was estimated to 378. The bottom longline fisheries directly employed about 350 crew members while the handline fishing about 930 fishermen, representing about 60% of all professional fishermen in the Azores (Carvalho et al. 2011). These numbers are only approximations because of the difficulties in assigning components or gear type to each vessel. Catches from demersal fisheries usually include more than 20 species of commercial interest. In the last 10 years the total landings of the bottom longline and handline components of the Azores commercial fisheries averaged 4.2 thousand tonnes, contributing in average for 42% of all landed weight in the Azores. The bottom longline and handline fishing is by far the most valuable in terms of landed value with an average annual landed value of 18-29 million Euros, representing about 76% of all landed value in the Azores. Although stock assessment methods and abundance indices show somehow healthy stocks of demersal deep-water species in the Azores, there is a common perception among fishermen that some stocks may be facing serious problems. Additionally, local fishers fear that open access regime under the current CFP reforms will allow foreign vessels to decimate their fish stocks (Carvalho et al., 2011). They argue that they are an ultra-remote island community, with fragile resources and economies and many rural communities heavily dependent on the fishing sector for their economic wellbeing (Carvalho et al., 2011). They need special recognition and special protection from the threats of open access and free-for-all fishing, which would encourage over- exploitation of fish stocks. Additionally, there are some concerns on the potential exploitation of demersal fish stocks outside the Azores EEZ by international trawlers. www.discardless.eu This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under grant agreement no. 633680 Drifting deep-water longline targeting black scabbard fish is still considered a “new” deep-water fishery in the Azores. The number of fishing vessels involved in commercial drifting deep-water longline in 2010 is unknown. However, according to a report prepared by Ramos et al. (2013) there might be about 10 fishing vessels with a mean length of 14m operating the drifting deep- water longline in the Azores. This fishery is still in an experimental phase in the Azores and landings are small but have peaked at 450t in 2012. Bycatch species of this fishery accounted for about 4.0–7.5% of the total number of fish caught, however no data on discards is available. In the Azores as in other regions, deep sea sharks composed the main bycatch (Machete et al., 2011), mainly leafscale gulper shark and the Portuguese dogfish. Other species reported as bycatch of this fishery but with low numbers include Etmopterus sp., Mora moro, Deania cf. calcea, Centroscymnus crepidater, Alepochepalus rostratus, Deania profundorum and Chiasmodon niger. There is a growing concern with the bycatch of some of these species and Machete et al. (2011) suggested that those catches should be closely monitored in the future if the fishery is to be expanded in the Azores.
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