GENERAL FISHERIES COMMISSION FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN COMMISSION GÉNÉRALE DES PÊCHES POUR LA MÉDITERRANÉE

First Regional Symposium on Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 27–30 November 2013, St. Julian’s, Malta

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Thematic session IV Enhancing small-scale fisheries value chains in the Mediterranean and Black Sea

N. IVP.1 Title: Fishing with "menaida" an example of selective and sustainable fishing in the Gulf of Catania (Italy) Author(s): MONACO Clara, FLORIDIA Stefano, INTERNULLO Eugenio, PELLEGRINO Giuliana and TRINGALI Mario Abstract: The Gulf of Catania, located along the eastern coast of Sicily, shows a peculiar geographical uniformity, and represents a biologically and functionally autonomous unit. It lies in the maritime district of Catania. Different kinds of artisanal and traditional fishing activities are conducted in the area of the Gulf of Catania. The fishing methods are classified according to the type of nets used, mostly driftnets and gillnets. The most common fishing net used in the study area is called menaide. Probably it dates back to the ancient Greece times, this technique takes its name from the net used for this type of fishing, called "menaica", this was also the name of the boat used. A tradition, therefore, which has a centuries-long history and which still survives, in its almost total integrity in some villages of the Mediterranean area, in the study area it is widely used between the village of Ognina and the city of Catania. This kind of net is deployed in the water in the proximity of the boat, and it is held by a series of floats situated at a distance of 15-20 m from each other. The buoys are used to signal the presence of the net and to regulate its depth by means of a rope of varying length. The patch of the net is stitched in the upper side to a floats line, while on the lower side there is a leads line; in this way the net is kept tense in water and with a neutral weight. It is an important example of selective fishing since its link measure 1 cm for side and it is exclusively used for the capture of anchovies and sardines. The menaide is a gillnet: the fish, trying to pass through the net, gets entangled with the gill operculum and, trying to relieve, it loses a lot of blood. Thus the anchovies result more sweet and dainty, compared to those fished with other nets. They can directly be purchased among the fishermen, going to the harbour early in the morning, or to the nearest fish market. Besides, it is possible to embark with the fishermen to discover this form of sustainable fishing and to effect a gastronomic eco-tourism. During the project "Fish traceability", funded by P.O.R. Sicilia 2000-2006 (measure 4.17, subm. A) led by the Regional Province of Catania and by scientific partners such as the "Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale A. Mirri" (Palermo), Ketos Association (Catania) and Softeco Sismat S.p.A (Genova), the productive chain "Masculina da magghia" has been established. It is composed by the

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61 Thematic session IV Enhancing small-scale fisheries value chains in the Mediterranean and Black Sea

manufacturing companies (10 small-scale fishing boats registered in the maritime department of Catania) and the Association for the fish repopulation of Catania as leader of the supply chain. All procedures were codified and included in a traceability manual which also relates about the chemical and microbiological investigations of fish. The results confirm that the anchovy of the menaide have excellent hygienic sanitary characteristics, revaluing a product of elevated nourishing and important value in the gastronomic and cultural tradition of the province.

N. IVP.2 Title: Seminar on the Canning Technology to the Fishermen’s Wives in the Island of Kalymnos (Greece) Author(s): STAMATIS Nikos and RIGA Constantina Abstract: The island of Kalymnos is located on the eastern side of the Aegean Sea with 1600 inhabitants. Kalymnos is known and billed as the "Sponge- divers” island. Sponge diving has long been a common occupation on Kalymnos and sponges were the main source of income of local people, bringing wealth to the island and making it famous throughout the Mediterranean. A disease at the mid-80s hit the eastern Mediterranean destroying a great number of sponges and damaging the sponge-fishing industry as a result. Although a recovery seems to appear on the sponge population, the production is still low. However due to the high mountain, the only sources for the local economy are coming from fishery and tourism. Nowadays the fishing vessels count around 1000 and the fishermen are considered as the most efficient among the Greek fishermen. Although species like Thunnus alalunga or Boop boops are abundant, they don’t have big market demand. Considering the high nutritional value of the species, it has been a request from the local community to the EastMed project to provide support in training fishermen wives on process methods in order to improve the welfare not only of the family but also the community. The courses included lectures related with fishes’ conservation on ice and freezing, the processing (marinating, drying, smoking, salting) and canning of the fishes, the preparation of surimi products, quality control based on chemical, microbiological and organoleptic criteria, traditional and new techniques on packaging and canning, as well as the marketing of the fishes including EC regulations. The trainees were also practiced on the field in sterilizing, drying, salting and smoking techniques. Needed apparatus for the processing were submitted through the Project. The trainees processed Thunnus

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Fishing with "menaida" an example of selective and sustainable fishing in the Gulf of Catania (Italy)

Monaco C.*, Floridia S.*, Internullo E.*, Pellegrino G.*, Tringali M.* *Ketos œ Scientific Cultural Association. Catania, Italy [email protected] www.ketos.info œ www.ketos.sicily.it INTRODUCTION Scientific Cultural Association —Ketos“ was born in 1997. It practises research and safeguard of mammals species in Mediterranean Sea, and all along its studies also concern the small-scale artisanal fisheries. This because cetaceans often interact with fishing gears used by fleets operating in the studied areas, and because considering the economic, social and environmental components of the small fishery, it is an important patrimony to protect. We consider the drift gillnet —menaida“ the mostly sustainable; it is also the fishing net more penalize and affected by interaction with the Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821) species, which often cause huge damages eating entangled fishes and tearing the net apart. The tool selectivity allows that the only Engraulis encrasicolus (Linnaeus, 1758) species get captured, this species has also been object of study of the —Tracciabilità del pescato“ project, through which it has been proved the high sanitary, gastronomic and cultural hygienic value of the product.

THE STUDY AREA The Gulf of Catania is located in the Ionian Sea, on the eastern coast of Sicily, the greatest island of the Mediterranean. It is 60 km long and 11 km wide, it lies between Fiumefreddo (Catania) in the North and Capo Campolato (Siracusa) in the South. The northern part of the gulf it‘s predominantly rocky, and characterized by waters going deep to more than 100 meters within 1 NM from the coast. Starting from the harbor of Catania, it‘s characterized by a sandy coast and shallows waters. While the southern part is rocky again and with a smaller continental platform. The Simeto and the San Leonardo rivers provide sea waters with basic nutrients, which leads the food chain to anchovies.

FISHING WITH MENAIDA Different kinds of artisanal and traditional fishing activities are conducted in the Gulf of Catania. The fishing methods are classified according to the type of nets used, mainly driftnets and gillnets. The most common fishing net used in the study area is called menaida. This kind of net is deployed in the water in proximity of the boat, and it is held by a series of floats situated at a distance of 15-20 m from each other. The buoys are used to signal the presence of the net, the depth of this one can be adjusted by means of a rope of varying length. The patch of the net is stitched in the upper side to a floats line, while on the lower side there is a leads line, so the net is kept tense in water and with a neutral weight. It is an important example of selective fishing since its link measures 1 cm for side and it is exclusively used for the capture of anchovies and sardines. The menaida is a gillnet: the fish, trying to pass through the net, gets entangled with the gill operculum and, trying to relieve, it loses a lot of blood. Thus the anchovies result more sweet and dainty, compared to those fished with other nets. METHODS Different methodologies have been applied in the different phases of the study. In the first phase we have been interviewing fishermen and conducting land and boat based sighting surveys to identify boats, their fishing area and fishing times. According with the Fish traceability project, funded by P.O.R. Sicilia 2000-2006 (measure 4.17, subm. A) led by the Regional Province of Catania, once we have identified the most interesting boat we have equipped them with a GPS localizing system and a GPRS transmitting system. This equipment allowed us to follow to do a real time monitoring of the fishing fleet. All transmitted data were collected and analyzed, utilizing the Softeco Sismat software, in order to better understand the peculiarities of the fishing method. In the final phase we have been developing a labeling system containing information about quality, origin, health and hygiene analysis according to EU directives about fish products. This also in collaboration with the "Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale A. Mirri" of Palermo.

EU GUIDELINES FOR FISHING SUSTAINABILITY EU guidelines consider different sectors: Social; Security at sea; Clearance and traceability; Promoting cooperation between boats with different purposes; Respect of the environment and of the fish stocks. This last point is particularly relevant and provides various normative aimed at: Underlining the quality and not the quantity; Limiting the loss of fishing gear; Limiting the number of fishing gear deployed per boat; Avoiding to fish in areas poor in commercial fish stocks; Using fishing gears in a properly way limiting undersize and under age captures; Preferring selective fishing gears; Limiting pollution.

DISCUSSION The menaida fits perfectly with the European normative. It has a low impact on environment, it is selective (only anchovies get entangled), it gives an high quality product. Furthermore like every small fishing methods, it gives a huge economic restitution for the communities living on the coastline, made up primarily of small familiarly business. Besides, areas interested by menaida‘s fishing activities, fits well with anchovies‘ oviposition zone and are the same areas interested by a strong presence of bottlenose dolphin, and so with high interaction rates. The traceability of the final product and the description of the fishing methodology have allowed the creation of a procedural guideline and a policy document about the production of the anchovies fished by menaide. The appellation that identifies these anchovies is —Masculina da magghia“. We consider fishing with menaide, an important activity to be preserved, both for its sustainability characteristics and because of the decrease of vessels number that practice it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY European Commission, Codice europeo di buone pratiche per una pesca sostenibile e responsabile. Belgium, 2004. Ketos et al., Progetto tracciabilità del pescato. Descriptive report. FotografPalermo. 2009. Regulation (EU) No 1152/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the common fisheries policy. Official Journal L 343 , 14/12/2012 P. 0030 œ 0031. Tringali, M., Bruno, A., Copat, C., Corrente, G., Internullo, E., Ramasco, V., A study on an opportunistic feeding behavior of a population of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in the Gulf of Catania, Sicily. ECS 2005. Ketos Scientific Association. In Press.