Case Study 3b

1. Case Study 3b Artisanal fisheries: Vulnerable - Red (blackspot) seabream fishery in the eastern Mediterranean (Ionian Sea) Hellenic Center for Marine Research DEEPFISHMAN, kick-off Meeting Nantes, May 12th 2009

2. Pagellus bogaraveo • Benthopelagic marine species • Geographical distribution: temperate waters of Atlantic & Mediterranean • Bathymetric distribution: 25-700 m (adults in deeper strata) • Max size: 50cm TL • Average annual production (last decade)~500 MT (NSSG)

3. Fishery • deep-water small-scale fishery targeting adults using • static long-lines • gill nets • Trawlers catch mostly juveniles in shallower waters that are discarded • In the early years, catches were quite high, but declined considerably thereafter due to: • over-fishing • introduction of gill nets • recreational fishery • ghost fishing • Official landings data depict the declining trend implying the need of management measures taken into account the protandrous hermaphroditic character of the species

4. Past research • CT-95-0655 EU project (1996-1999) – biological parameters, commercial catch, size at age composition • DGXIV 00/046 EU project (2001) – – biological parameters, commercial catch, size at age composition, selectivity • MEDITS project (1994 to date) – abundance and biomass indices • Current regulation-management • no TAC’s • min landing size 33 cm TL (COM 1967/2006) • Bottom trawlers  seasonal & area closures; restrictions on gear configuration • Nets & Long-lines  no restrictions • Greek fleet capacity ~ 18000 commercial fishing boats • 333 Bottom trawlers • 299 Purse seiners • 366 Boat seiners • 17000 small scale fishery boats (static nets, static & drifting longlines, traps, pots etc.) • Recreational fishing impact : unknown

5. Objectives • Review on historical development of the fisheries • Review on biological parameters of the target species, stock structure and status • Review of assessment method used so far • Inventory of the fisheries, biological, biodiversity, and socio-economic data currently available for management and monitoring purposes • Review of known and likely impact of the fishery on deep-water biodiversity • Review of current and historical management and monitoring procedures

6. Data availability and quality • Catch: C* (1990-2007) • Effort: C* (1996-2008) • Fleet: C* (1996-2008) • Life cycle: C* (1997-2001) • Biol. Params: C** (2001) • Stock structure: C** (1994-2008) • Species ecology: C* (1994-2008) • By-catch: C** (1994-2008) • Fishing impacts: C** (1994-2008) • Fish prices: C** (1992-2007) • Fishing costs: C* (2004-2008) • Investment: C* (2004-2008) • On-board employment: C** (2001, 2004-2008) • Length Distr.: C* (1995-2001, 2003-2008) • Catch at Age: C* (2004-2008) • CPUEs: C* (2004-2008) • Survey data: C** (1994-2008) • ‘C’: collated & compiled by the project • ‘*’: limited data; ‘**’: significant data available

7. Major data sets • Mediterranean Trawl Survey (MEDITS) • National Data Collection Program (NDCP) • National Statistical Survey of Greece (NSSG) • Known weaknesses • Analytical stock assessments have never been carried out for the species and a significant effort of the project must be exerted towards estimating parameters describing the status of the stock. Only survey data (MEDITS) were used (indicators method) for stock assessment. • Small scale fisheries which are responsible for the bulk of catches are very difficult to monitor and in general effort and landings data for the species suffer from misreporting and incomplete monitoring, since it is not included in the target species of the NDCP. • Data time series suffer from gaps among years Databases • During the project, the available data will be filtered, polished and validated before included in the database