New initiative to make marine protected areas truly effective in restoring ecosystems. Catalonia During this year 2022, it added a total of 20 new permanent exclusion zones to demersal fisheries, a species that lives at the bottom of the sea.. These areas cover a total area of 462 square kilometers and multiply the sea area where this type of fishing is not possible by 283.
The creation of this new network of protected areas is the result of close work. Cooperation between Catalonian fishermen’s associations, The science sector has been represented for more than three years by the Institut Català de Recerca per a la Governança del Mar (ICATMAR) and the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) in Barcelona and the Generalitat de Catalunya.
“This measure will contribute to the recovery of ecosystems and populations of marine species that are part of them,” says Laura Recasens, ICM-CSIC and ICATMAR researcher.
The initiative is part of the Catalan Maritime Strategy, which is based on a co-management model, i.e. the active participation of all actors involved in fisheries management decision-making. Again, The first steps were taken in 2013 by a group of fishermen from the Brotherhood of Roses who decided to carry out the first closure of a fishing area.. Then, in 2015, a team of scientists from ICM-CSIC began investigating how this measure contributed to ecosystem recovery.
This initial closure meant an increase in the abundance of juveniles and adults of commercial species., not only within the protected area, but also in adjacent areas. Therefore, it was decided to expand the initiative to cover all Catalonia’s fraternities, until the establishment of 20 new networks of protected marine areas along the entire coastline.
Same way, The Catalan model is applied in other parts of the State Thanks to the collaboration between ICATMAR and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) and the Spanish government’s Fisheries Secretariat.
“A Historic Turning Point”
different regions together 462 square kilometers are protected, approximately equivalent to the surface of Andorra.
“To realize the implementation of this model in Catalonia, we consider very positively that different fishermen’s associations have stopped using part of their fishing grounds and contributed to the protection of marine ecosystems,” he explains. ICM-CSIC and ICATMAR researcher Joan B. Company is convinced that the new measure will be very beneficial for the marine environment.
And as a result of this network of marine protected areas, no demersal fishing activities of any kind have been permitted since January 2022.will support the recovery of biodiversity and the increase in the biomass of the species living there.including those interested in fishing.
In this sense, ICATMAR and ICM-CSIC are betting on a monitoring and restoration program for exploited ecosystems that ensures the continuous collection of quality scientific data to inform management decisions regarding fisheries management.
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