EP United Nations Environnement Programme UNEP(DEPI)/MED WG.331/Inf.12 30 April 2009 ENGLISH ORIGINAL: ENGLISH MEDITERRANEAN ACTION PLAN Ninth Meeting of Focal Points for SPAs Floriana, Malta, 3-6 June 2009 Report on the Cartilaginous Fishes in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro: Proposal of a Sub-Regional Working Programme to Support the Implementation of the Regional Action Plan UNEP RAC/SPA - Tunis, 2009 Note: The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP concerning the legal status of any State, Territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of their frontiers or boundaries. The opinions expressed in this document do not necessarily represent the views of UNEP. © 2009 United Nations Environment Programme Mediterranean Action Plan Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) Boulevard du Leader Yasser Arafat B.P. 337 - 1080 Tunis CEDEX E-mail : [email protected] The original version (English) of this document has been prepared for the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) by: Fabrizio SERENA Monica BARONE With the participation of: Alen SOLDO. Centre of Marine Studies University of Split Livanjska 5/III, 21000 Split, Croatia Nedo VRGOČ Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries Setaliste Ivana Mestrovica 63 p.o. box 500 - 21000 Split, Croatia Aleksandar JOKSIMOVIC Institute of Marine Biology, PO Box 69 - 85 330 Kotor, Montenegro Bojan MARČETA Fisheries Research Institute of Slovenia Ţupančičeva 9 SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia UNEP(DEPI)/MED WG.331/Inf.12 Page 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES ........................................................................................ 3 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................ 4 FOREWORD .................................................................................................................. 5 1 AREA OF INTEREST: THE ADRIATIC SEA ........................................................... 7 1.1 Oceanographic properties .......................................................................................... 7 1.2 Marine fisheries ......................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Cartilaginous fishes in the Eastern Adriatic Sea ...................................................... 10 2 TAXONOMIC LIST OF THE CHONDRICHTHYAN FISHES OF EASTERN ADRIATIC SEA ...................................................................................................... 13 2.1 Sharks ...................................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Batoids ..................................................................................................................... 17 3 COUNTRY FISHERY INFORMATION WITH REFERENCE TO CHONDRICHTHYAN FISHES ............................................................................... 20 3.1 Slovenia (by Bojan Marčeta) ................................................................................... 20 3.1.1 Coastal characteristics ...................................................................................................... 20 3.1.2 Fishing fleet ...................................................................................................................... 22 3.1.3 Trawl surveys ................................................................................................................... 23 3.1.4 List of Chondrichthyan fishes of the Slovenian Adriatic Sea .......................................... 24 3.1.5 Recommendations for the enhancement of the Action Plan ............................................ 25 3.1.6 References on cartilaginous fishes ................................................................................... 25 3.2 Croatia (by Alen Soldo and Nedo Vrgoč) ............................................................... 26 3.2.1 Coastal characteristics ...................................................................................................... 26 3.2.2 Marine fisheries with some notes on cartilaginous fishes ................................................ 26 3.2.3 Protected areas and fishing regulation in Croatia ............................................................. 27 3.2.4 Fishing fleet ...................................................................................................................... 28 3.2.5 Trawl surveys ................................................................................................................... 29 3.2.6 List of Chondrichthyan fishes of the Croatian Adriatic Sea ............................................ 30 3.2.7 References on cartilaginous fishes ................................................................................... 31 3.3 Bosnia and Herzegovina (by Alen Soldo) ............................................................... 33 3.4 Montenegro (by Aleksandar Joksimovic) ................................................................ 33 3.4.1 Coastal characteristics ...................................................................................................... 33 3.4.2 Marine fisheries with some notes on cartilaginous fishes ................................................ 33 3.4.3 Fishing fleet ...................................................................................................................... 34 3.4.4 Trawl surveys and national monitoring programmes ....................................................... 35 3.4.5 References on cartilaginous fishes ................................................................................... 36 4 CONSERVATION .................................................................................................. 37 5 RECCOMENDATIONS AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ..................................... 38 5.1 Recommendations .................................................................................................... 38 5.2 Research objectives ................................................................................................. 39 UNEP(DEPI)/MED WG.331/Inf.12 Page 2 6 OBJECTIVE I ......................................................................................................... 40 6.1 Biological parameters .............................................................................................. 40 6.1.1 Reproduction .................................................................................................................... 40 6.1.2 Diet ................................................................................................................................... 44 6.1.3 Growth ............................................................................................................................. 46 7 OBJECTIVE II ........................................................................................................ 47 7.1 Distribution and abundance of cartilaginous fishes ................................................. 47 8 OBJECTIVE III ....................................................................................................... 47 8.1 Enhancement of identification ................................................................................. 47 9 OBJECTIVE IV ...................................................................................................... 48 9.1 Public awareness ...................................................................................................... 48 10 TIMETABLE ................................................................................................ 48 11 REFERENCES ............................................................................................ 49 11.1 References in the text ............................................................................................... 49 11.2 Systematics (identification) ..................................................................................... 50 11.3 Biology .................................................................................................................... 50 APPENDICES .......................................................................................................... 53 APPENDIX A : Report of the Meeting to Prepare the Proposal for a Research Programme on Chondrichthyan Fishes of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro . 54 APPENDIX B : MEDLEM data collection field sheet ........................................................ 59 MEDLEM data collection field sheet ................................................................................... 60 UNEP(DEPI)/MED WG.331/Inf.12 Page 3 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1. Countries involved in the project ....................................................................................... 7 Figure 2. Bathymetric map of the Adriatic Sea (Hrvatski Hidrografski Institut, Peljar, 1999) .... 7 Figure 3. Surface currents in the Adriatic Sea (Zore-Armanda, 1967) ......................................... 8 Figure 4. Capture fisheries production in “Adriatic” division (1970-2002) (excluding bivalve molluscs and aquaculture). ........................................................................................................ 9 Figure 5. Capture production of cartilaginous fishes (GFCM 1970-2005) ................................