Acronym SAGRES
Category
Fisheries
Title Environmental impact of fixed fishing gears in the Southwest coast of Portugal. Conciliating fishing and conservation Programme Nat. Programme (supported by ESIF)
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National-European Coordinator Margarida Castro Coordinator email mcastro@ualg.pt
Coordinator institution
CCMAR - Centre for Marine Sciences (Portugal)
Institutions involved
NA
Start year 2007 End year 2008 Funding (€) € 50,000 Website NA Summary During the work it was verified that the spiny lobster lost importance for the artisanal fishing of the area having been substituted, in caught quantities and value, by the Norway lobster. However, this new and very profitable fishing is practiced by a small number of vessels. There is thus potential for expansion. Fishing for spiny lobster with traps is not a viable alternative, due to its low yields, although it is important to invest in improving the characteristics of the traps, since nets have a huge negative impact on the environment; only 1/5 of the retained fish are used (the remainder degrades in the net and has no commercial value). Since fishing for crustaceans is carried out mainly in summer, when the surface water (used in live shellfish transport boxes) has higher temperatures compared to the depths where the catches were made, installation on board boxes that allow the transport of live crustaceans in a cold and humid environment, will be an added value for the vessels of this fleet. It seems imperative that management measures be applied to this fleet, given the widespread degradation of traditional resources. It is suggested that an option to be considered is the monitoring of possible restrictive measures with the extension of the fishing zone beyond the 6 miles, restricting to these zones the access that the trawl fleet currently has. In this way, the small-scale fleet could withstand measures restricting access to the areas it currently operates, without jeopardizing its sustainability. These measures would have little impact on the trawl fleet, as the fleet's most important target species, the prawn, is not captured on the southwest coast.
Keywords
Fisheries management;
Lobster;
Shellfish;
Small scale fisheries;
Traps;
Crustacean;
Marine Region
38
Portuguese Waters (27.IXa,27.IXb)
1
Marine Region Map
