Acronym NA
Category
Fisheries
Title Assessment of the effects of the No Take Area of Chioggia on demersal and benthic communities and on restocking possibilities of commercial species Programme National Programme
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
Coordinator institution
ISPRA - Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (Italy)
Institutions involved
NA
Start year 2005 End year 2008 Funding (€) € 117,938 Website NA Summary The goal of the project was to assess the effects - if any - of protection in a small area off Chioggia closed to fishing(No-Take Zone), particularly on coastal commercial species (fish and shellfish). In the study area the sea bottom is made of fine to coarse sediments, but is also characterised by hard-substratum outcrops locally known as "tegnùe". These outcrops are spread in the Northern Adriatic basin at 10-40 m depths, mainly between Grado and the Po river's mouth, and in a few sites off Chioggia they are exceptionally developed both in surface and mean height. These "rocks" are bioconstructions mainly made by calcareous algae and are rather recent as the oldest ones do not date back beyond 4,000-6,000 years ago. "Tegnùe" host rich fish and shellfish faunas and therefore are preferred sites for fishermen operating with fixed gears. The NTZ off Chioggia was set up by Decree of the Italian Ministry for Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries on 2002, but since then studies focussed on the effects of protection on commercial species were still lacking. The only available information on commercial yield by fixed nets came from a 12-month study performed in 2000-2001, when fishing was still allowed (Maio et al, 2004). In order to evaluate if the abundance and biomass of commercial species was increasing as an effect of protection, we set up several in/out NTZ fishing stations and, in order to see if the area might be efficiently used for the restocking of shellfish, undersized marked scallop (Pecten jacobaeus) specimen were seeded. Soft bottoms benthic communities inside and outside the protected area was also investigated.
Goals:
(1) effectiveness of protection level by the assessment of seasonal abundance and biomass of commercial species (fishing trials by fixed nets) on soft bottoms inside and outside the protected area (as no outcrops are present outside); (2) description of commercial fish community on hard substrata by season; (3) comparison of survival and growth rate of labelled undersized scallop specimen in two protected sites (one inside the NTZ and one in a mussel farm nearby); (4) description of the soft bottoms benthic community inside and outside the NTZ.
Keywords
Benthic communities;
Physical disturbance;
Environmental impact;
Fisheries management;
Fish;
Marine Region
74
Northern Adriatic (GSA 17)
1
Marine Region Map
