REPORT 2014 FISHERMEN ENGAGEMENT IN MEDITERRANEAN MARINE PROTECTED AREAS A key element to the success of artisanal fisheries management WWF -- FishermenAires Marines Engagement Protégées in Mediterraneanet Pêche artisanale Marine - page Protected 53 Areas - page 1 WWF - Aires Marines Protégées et Pêche artisanale - page 1 EDITORS The WWF is the largest global conservation organi- sation. It has more than 5 million donors throughout the world. The organisation has an operational network in 100 countries offering 1,200 nature protection programmes. WWF’s mission is to halt and then reverse the process of degradation of the planet. www.wwf.fr The MedPAN North project is a transnational European project whose general aim is to improve the effectiveness MEDPAN of the managementPROJET of the marine protected areas of the NORTH north Mediterranean.MEDPAN It is conducted under the aus- pices of the MedPAN network and is coordinated by the PROJECT WWF France. ItNORD unites 12 partners from 6 European countries that border the Mediterranean: Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Malta and Slovenia. The project is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund Med Programme, and has a budget of €2.38 million. The project began in July 2010 and will end in June 2013. www.medpannorth.org Port-Cros National Park is a marine, coastal and insular national park. It was established in 1963 and is the first national marine park created in Europe. http://www.portcrosparcnational.fr AUTHORS The ECOMERS research laboratory of the University Nice-Sophia Antipolis is specialised in Ecology and Management of Coastal Marine Ecosystems. Antonio DI FRANCO Pascaline BODILIS Pierre THIRIET Patrice FRANCOUR Paolo GUIDETTI www.unice.fr/ecomers WWF France Catherine PIANTE WWF Mediterranean Giuseppe DI CARLO WWF -- FishermenAires Marines Engagement Protégées in Mediterraneanet Pêche artisanale Marine - page Protected 53 Areas - page 2 TECHNICAL PARTNERS MedPAN Since 1990, the MedPAN network has brought together managers of marine protected areas (MPA) in the Medi- terranean and supported them in their management activities. MedPAN became an independent structure in 2008 and aims to contribute to the creation, operation and perpetuation of a Mediterranean MPA network. www.medpan.org FINANCIAL PARTNERS The MED Programme is a European transnational cooperation programme in the framework of the “ ter- ritorial cooperation” objective of the European Union’s cohesion policy. Partners from thirteen countries inclu- ding all those of the northern Mediterranean coast are working together to strengthen competitiveness, employ- ment and sustainable development in this area. www.programmemed.eu MedPAN is funded by French Global Environmental Facility Working to support French cooperation and develop- ment policy for global environmental protection, the French Global Environmental Facility (FGEF) provides grants to sustainable development projects in areas relevant to the multilateral agreements on the environ- ment signed by France. The FGEF is an instrument of French cooperation and development policy in the areas of climate change, biodiversity, international waters, land degradation (including desertification and deforestation), persistent organic pollutants and protection of the ozone layer. www.ffem.fr MAVA Foundation Dr Luc Hoffmann established MAVA in 1994 as an expression of his long personal commitment to conser- vation. MAVA is a family-led, Swiss-based philanthropic foundation with an exclusive focus on the conservation of biodiversity. Its focal regions are the Alpine Arc and Switzerland, the Mediterranean Basin and Coastal West Africa. en.mava-foundation.org WWF -- FishermenAires Marines Engagement Protégées in Mediterraneanet Pêche artisanale Marine - page Protected 53 Areas - page 3 Publication lead: WWF France, Port-Cros National Park © WWF France, Port-Cros National Park Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other com- mercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Citation: Di Franco A., Bodilis P., Piante C., Di Carlo G., Thiriet P., Francour P., Guidetti P. 2014. Fishermen engagement, a key element to the success of artisanal fisheries management in Mediterranean marine protected areas. MedPAN North Project. WWF France. 135 pages. Coordination: C. Piante English proofreading: Armaris Traduction Layout: Les poulets bicyclettes Produced by: WWF France www.wwf.fr Cover photo credit: Parc National de Port Cros © Christel Gerardin Available from: www.medpan.org June 2014 WWF -- FishermenAires Marines Engagement Protégées in Mediterraneanet Pêche artisanale Marine - page Protected 53 Areas - page 4 FISHERMEN ENGAGEMENT IN MEDITERRANEAN MARINE PROTECTED AREAS A KEY ELEMENT TO THE SUCCESS OF ARTISANAL FISHERIES MANAGEMENT A. Di Franco, P. Bodilis, C. Piante, G. Di Carlo, P. Thiriet, P. Francour, P. Guidetti WWF -- FishermenAires Marines Engagement Protégées in Mediterraneanet Pêche artisanale Marine - page Protected 53 Areas - page 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study has been carried out by the Ecomers Laboratory of the University of Nice- Sophia Antipolis under the supervision of WWF France. Financial support has been provided by the National Park of Port-Cros, WWF France and MedPAN (France) within the framework of the MedPAN North project. We would like to thank all the managers and scientists in the marine protected areas for their involvement to this work through their valuable input via questionnaires and email : ALGERIA Samir Grimes (ENSSMAL / Commissariat National du Littoral) CROATIA Moira Bursic, Sandro Dujmovic (Brijuni National Park) Martina Markov Dujmović (Kornati National Park) FRANCE Jean-Michel Culioli (Parc Marin International des Bouches de Bonifacio) Éric Charbonnel et Frédéric Bachet (Parc Marin de la Côte Bleue), Jérôme Payrot (Réserve marine de Cerbère-Banyuls), Jean-Marie Dominici (Réserve naturelle marine de Scandola) Laurence Le Direach (GIS Posidonie) Raynald Jaubert (Parc National de Port-Cros) GREECE Laurent Sourbes, Harris Dimitriadis (National Marine Park of Zakynthos) ITALY Milena Tempesta, Carlo Franzosini, Roberto Odorico (Miramare MPA) Valentina Cappanera (Portofino MPA) Vincenzo Incontro (Plemmirio MPA) Francesco De Franco, Alessandro Ciccolella (Torre Guaceto MPA) Giorgio Massaro (Penisola del Sinis - Isola di Mal di Ventre MPA) Pieraugusto Panzalis, Augusto Navone (Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo MPA) Fabio Vallarola (Torre del Cerrano MPA) Pasquale Santoro, Stefano Pecorella (Isole Tremiti MPA) SPAIN Josep Lloret and Victoria Riera (Cap de Creus) Jorge Moreno and José Felipe Sánchez (Cabrera National Park) Jose Amengual Ramis (on behalf of Cabrera National Park) José A. García Charton (University of Murcia) Silvia Revenga and all team from MAGRAMA, Fisheries General Secretary Oscar Esparza Alaminos (WWF-Spain) TURKEY Onur Gönülol (Gökçeada Marine Reserve) Murat Draman (Kas-Kekova MPA) Nilay Akça (WWF Turkey) Macit Ege Ercan (TUDAV) We are extremely grateful to Professor Jose Garcia-Charton (University of Murcia, Spain), Dr. Frederique Alban (University of Brest, France) and Chloë Webster (MedPAN) for their helpful revision of an earlier draft of this report. WWF -- FishermenAires Marines Engagement Protégées in Mediterraneanet Pêche artisanale Marine - page Protected 53 Areas - page 6 FOREWORD Most Mediterranean fish stocks are currently overexploited: 82 % according to the European Commission and 79 % according to the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (2012). More directly than industrial fisheries, small scale, artisa- nal fisheries are considered to have broader positive effects on coastal communities and often less impact on the marine environment than their industrial counterparts. Artisanal fisheries provide critical income and protein to hundreds of million people and contribute to poverty alleviation and sustainable development in many coastal areas of the world. They operate in some of the biologically richest and most sensitive waters of the planet, where interactions with coastal and marine activities lead to complex interdependencies. John Tanzer signature Artisanal fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea represent roughly 86 % of the approxima- tely 42 000 fishing boats existing in the region. Although in decline and not properly John Tanzer accounted for either scientifically or politically, they are still highly socially, economical- Director Marine Programme ly and ecologically relevant, even for EU countries. Artisanal fisheries provide around WWF International 100 000 direct jobs in the EU alone. In Europe, an operational definition of artisanal fisheries based on an overall length of vessels of up to 12 m has been proposed. The objective of this publication is to show how coastal marine protected area (MPA) establishment and co-management involving fishermen from the very beginning in the Mediterranean have resulted in examples of successful coexistence between fishing and conservation interests such as in Torre Guaceto Marine Protected Area in Italy, Bonifacio Strait Nature Reserve, Scandola Nature Reserve, Port-Cros National Park and Parc marin de la Côte Bleue in France or Columbretes Fisheries Reserve in Spain. In those areas, conservation efforts have resulted in stabilized or even increasing fisheries yields, as confirmed by long-term scientific