Mediterranean Submarine Canyons Ecology and Governance Maurizio Würtz, Editor ABOUT IUCN IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. IUCN works on biodiversity, climate change, energy, human livelihoods and greening the world economy by supporting scientific research, managing field projects all over the world, and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice. IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization, with more than 1,200 government and NGO members and almost 11,000 volunteer experts in some 160 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by over 1,000 staff in 45 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. www.iucn.org Mediterranean Submarine Canyons Ecology and Governance Maurizio Würtz, Editor 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 Cap de Creus. 2 Morpho-bathymetry of the Mediterranean Sea showing the main canyon and channel systems around the basin. 3 Sperm whale fluke. Maurizio Würtz – Artescienza s.a.s. 4 Shaded bathymetric map illustrating the morphology of the western Ligurian margin. 5 Sperm whale encounters near Ischia during the period 2000-2008. 6 Colonies of Madrepora oculata (left) and Lophelia pertusa observed at 500 m depth in the Lacaze-Duthiers canyon. 7 Bathymetric map of the north-western Mediterranean showing the pathway of the dense shelf water cascading mechanism extending from the Gulf of Lion to the Catalan continental slope and the open-sea convection region. 8 Merluccius merluccius. Vincent Fossat (1877 and 1878), Coll. Muséum d’Histoire naturelle de Nice. The designation of geographical entities in this book, Published by: Produced by: and the presentation of the material, do not imply the IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Málaga, Spain. IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN, the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Copyright: Available from: Protected Areas within the Mediterranean Action Plan © 2012 International Union for Conservation IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation (RAC/SPA), the French Agency for Marine Protected of Nature and Natural Resources. C/ Marie Curie 22 Areas, the French Ministry for Ecology, Sustainable 29590 Campanillas, Malaga, Spain Development, Transport and Housing and the French Reproduction of this publication for educational or Tel: +34 952 028430 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Mava Foundation, the other non-commercial purposes is authorized without Fax: +34 952 028145 st Total Foundation or the Foundation Albert I , Prince of prior written permission from the copyright holder http://www.iucn.org/mediterranean Monaco, concerning the legal status of any country, provided the source is fully acknowledged. territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the Or delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other IUCN commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written The views expressed in this publication do not (International Union for Conservation of Nature) permission of the copyright holder. necessarily reflect those of IUCN, the Regional Publications Service Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas Rue Mauverney 28 Citation: within the Mediterranean Action Plan (RAC/SPA), 1196 Gland, Switzerland Würtz M. (ed.) (2012). Mediterranean Submarine the French Agency for Marine Protected Areas, Tel: +41 22 999 0000 Canyons: Ecology and Governance. Gland, Switzerland the French Ministry for Ecology, Sustainable Fax: +41 22 999 0020 and Málaga, Spain: IUCN. 216 pages. Development, Transport and Housing and the French [email protected] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Mava Foundation, the www.iucn.org/publications Total Foundation or the Foundation Albert Ist, Prince Editing and layout: of Monaco,. François-Xavier Bouillon, F-06800 Cagnes-sur-Mer. This publication has been made possible in part by Translation, rereading and corrections: funding from the French Agency for Marine Protected Deadline SARL, F-06570 Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Areas, the French Ministry for Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing and the French Printing: Solprint, Malaga, Spain. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Mava Foundation and the Total Foundation. ISBN: 978-2-8317-1469-1 Contents Foreword ...........................................................................7 3. CASE STUDIES 1. SUBMARINE CANYONS 3.1. The submarine canyons of the Rhodes basin AND MEDITERRANEAN ECOSYSTEM ................................9 and the Mediterranean coast of Turkey Bayram Öztürk, Eda Topçu, Bülent Topaloglu .....................65 1.1. Submarine canyons and their role in the Mediterranean ecosystem 3.2. Central-southern Mediterranean submarine canyons Maurizio Würtz .................................................................11 and steep slopes: role played in the distribution of cetaceans, bluefin tunas, and elasmobranchs 1.2. Mediterranean submarine canyons and channels: Adriana Vella and Joseph Vella ..........................................73 Morphological and geological backgrounds Sébastien Migeon, Jean Mascle, 3.3. The case study of the marine canyon of Cuma Marianne Coste, Pierrick Rouillard .....................................27 (Tyrrhenian sea, Italy): implication for cetacean conservation off Ischia island 2. SUBMARINE CANYONS AND FISHERY ............................43 Daniela Silvia Pace, Angelo Miragliuolo, Barbara Mussi .......89 2.1. A refugium for the spawners of exploited Mediterranean 3.4. Mediterranean submarine canyons as stepping stones marine species: the canyons of the continental slope for pelagic top predators: the case of sperm whale of the Gulf of Lion Mehdi Aïssi, Cristina Fiori, Jessica Alessi ............................99 Henri Farrugio ...................................................................45 3.5. Canyon heads in the French Mediterranean 2.2. The fisheries importance of four submarine canyons Overview of results from the MEDSEACAN in the spanish Mediterranean sea: and CORSEACAN campaigns (2008-2010) Cap de Creus, Palamós, Cape Tiñoso Pierre Watremez .............................................................105 and Alborán platform canyons Silvia Revenga Martinez de Pazos .....................................51 3.6. Role and importance of submarine canyons for cetaceans and seabirds in the north-western 2.3. Impact of fishing techniques on the continental slope and Mediterranean sea mitigation measures, primarily focusing on trawling for deep- Léa David and Nathalie Di-Méglio ....................................113 sea crustaceans and ghost net fishing Jacques Sacchi ...............................................................57 3.7. The benthic communities of the Cap de Creus canyon Teresa Madurell, Covadonga Orejas, Susana Requena, Andrea Gori, Ariadna Purroy, Claudio Lo Iacono, Ana Sabatés, Carlos Dominguez-Carrió, Josep Maria Gili ..............................................................123 …/… 5 3.8. Submarine canyons in the Catalan Sea (NW Mediterranean): 5. MPAs FOR SUBMARINE CANYON: megafaunal biodiversity patterns and anthropogenic threats PROPOSALS AND UP TO DATE SITUATION ...................189 Joan B. Company, Eva Ramirez-Llodra, Francesc Sardà, Jacopo Aguzzi, Pere Puig, Miquel Canals, Antoni Calafat, 5.1 Mediterranean Submarine Canyons 2012: Albert Palanques, Montserrat Solé, Anna Sanchez-Vidal, Pending Protection Jacobo Martín, Galderic Lastras, Samuele Tecchio, Pilar Marin and Ricardo Aguilar ........................................191 Samuel Koenig, Ulla Fernandez-Arcaya, Ariadna Mechó, Pilar Fernández ......................................133 5.2. Approaching the conservation issues of the Mediterranean submarine canyons 3.9. South iberian submarine canyons in the Alboran sea: geohabitats, associated communities François Simard and Maurizio Würtz ................................207 and fisheries resources Jorge Baro, José L. Rueda, Víctor Díaz-del-Río................145 4. GOVERNANCE ..............................................................157 4.1. Legal governance of submarine canyons in the Mediterranean Nathalie Ros ...................................................................159 4.2. Superposition of marine protected areas: an original legal solution for the protection of Mediterranean canyons Magali Lehardy ...............................................................175 4.3. Managing canyons and similar marine features. Lessons learned from the Far West Abdelhafid Chalabi .........................................................181 6 FOREWORD Workshops focusing on governance of the Mediterranean held Enhancing our knowledge would make it possible to incorporate in Tunis (2007), Rabat (2008), Nice (2009), Istanbul and Procida the protection strategy for canyons into a marine spatial planning (2010) and Monaco (2011) have enabled the IUCN to formulate project on the basis of CBD-EBSA criteria. In this respect, the IUCN recommendations to Mediterranean countries whereby they apply must strengthen and structure this group of experts and develop a precautionary principle to canyons situated in waters under their regional cooperation, both technical and scientific, to support in jurisdiction, and incorporate the issues which are at stake and pri- particular the activities of the Regional Activity Centre for Specially orities for the protection and management of submarine canyons Protected Areas