Laura Recasens is a researcher in the Marine Living Resources Ecology and Conservation research group at the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), a group that aims to provide a scientific basis for the sustainable use and conservation of living marine resources and their habitats.

The ICM-CSIC scientist, Laura Recasens, in a recent picture.

Her research, conducted within the framework of the Catalan Institute for Marine Governance Research (ICATMAR), a cooperation body between the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), through the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), and the Generalitat of Catalonia, focuses mainly, but not exclusively, on the Mediterranean Sea and the Catalan coast, an area where many fish stocks - hake, Norway lobster, shrimp... - are overexploited.

How can marine resources be managed to reverse this situation?

There are various solutions that are already being applied. One of them is to reduce the days the fleets can fish, implementing closed seasons. Another is to improve gear selectivity, that is, to make the mesh unable to capture small organisms and only allow fishing for those that have already reached a certain size. This is one strategy we are promoting from ICATMAR. And a third solution would be to create fishing reserves, which can be of two types: temporary, to protect the area only for a fraction of the species' life cycle; or permanent, to protect the entire habitat throughout the year and where, therefore, fishing is never allowed. In the case of the Catalan coast, all reserves are permanent.

How many reserves are currently in Catalonia?

Currently, as it was published in the BOE [Boletín Oficial del Estado, the official gazette of the Spanish State], there are twenty reserves covering a protected area of 462 km². To give you an idea of their extent, this would be equivalent to the area of Andorra. All of them are at a certain depth, most between 80 and 400 meters, so these are areas accessible only to professional fishermen. There are other more coastal reserves, such as the Medes Islands, where the management must take into account other actors, such as divers or recreational fishers, in addition to professional fishermen.

How is it decided where to create a fishing reserve?

In Catalonia, fishing reserves operate under a co-management model, meaning they are established based on an agreement primarily between us, the scientific community, and the fishermen's guild, but also with the public administration and NGOs. Since here the boats go back and forth from the port and generally fish "in front of home," what we do is to talk to each guild to see which species they are interested in protecting and then we reach an agreement on the area where fishing will stop.

Are the fishermen satisfied with the creation of these reserves?

Yes. In the end, what they want is to have more fish to catch more. Thus, creating the protected areas jointly is the best thing you can do because they understand how they work, why it is done, how to benefit from them... and therefore, they also respect them. If they don't see it positively, what can happen is that they go there for fishing, even if it is not allowed. But that is not the case. They are happy, and some even ask to expand them.

How do you monitor the reserves to know if they are being effective?

Since these are permanent reserves, we cannot enter to check if the species are recovering, but there are two methods to monitor them: firstly, an indirect method which consists of going around the reserve and seeing what catches are made there and if there is a gradient from greater to lesser as we move away from the reserve; another method, direct, consists of sending underwater robots into the reserve to film its condition.

Action must be taken to improve the exploitation system; in the end, not only fishing affects biodiversity but also climate change, low rainfall... and if a population is healthier, it will also be able to respond better to these changes

Do the results show any benefits?

Well, the marine reserves in Catalonia are very recent. To be able to scientifically analyze if they fulfill their function, a minimum of ten years must pass, and for now, many have only been in place for two or three years. In the older reserves, such as those in Roses and Palamós, an increase in biodiversity has been observed. Some species show signs of "spillover," that is, biomass export outside the reserve, but it is still too early to draw conclusions. However, we are confident that they will.

Therefore, are we in time to recover these species?

I believe so. First of all, because before a species disappears, its fishing will have ceased to be profitable, and humans will have stopped exploiting it. However, action must be taken to improve the exploitation system. In the end, not only fishing affects biodiversity but also climate change, mainly through the increase in sea water temperature, low rainfall... all of this affects biodiversity, and if a population is healthier, it will also be able to respond better to these changes.

Mireia Ayats

Examples of alliances between fishermen, scientists, Administration, industry and NGOs

The co-management of fish stocks involves the collaboration of fishermen, scientists, administrations, industry and NGOs. Among the successful stories, there is the case of the ‘sonso’ (sand eel), the first co-management plan for fisheries in Catalonia, which involved the Administration, fishermen, scientists and NGOs, and awarded with the WWF Conservation Merit Award in 2013.

Another success story is that of the red shrimp in Palamós. Facing a critical fishing situation, the Cofradía de Palamós, in collaboration with teams from the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), adopted changes such as the use of a net that reduces the capture of small individuals, the modification of trawling nets so that they do not touch the seabed, the reduction of fishing hours and the limitation of the power of the boats. As a result, there has been an increase in fish stocks and a marked reduction in the rate of overfishing.

Similarly, it has been shown that the measures taken by the Roses (Girona, Spain) fishermen have contributed to the recovery of European hake (Merluccius merluccius) in the Mediterranean. Laura Recasens, as a matter of fact, was one of the ICM-CSIC researchers involved in this project that R+D CSIC reported in this article.

According to information from the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at the end of 2023, the Network of marine reserves in Spain is made up of 12 protected areas totalling more than 105,000 hectares. Over the years, "the good coexistence between artisanal fishing and good conservation and protection of natural resources and biodiversity has been demonstrated," say ministry sources. The support of the fishermen's associations, which are "a fundamental part of the whole process of creating and maintaining the reserves", is essential.

Most recently, the International Seafood Foundation (ISSF) has published its 2023 annual report, which outlines the organisation's achievements towards a more sustainable tuna fishery, especially through collaboration with tuna farmers, fishermen and other industry partners. 

M. Fernández