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Structure and evolution of the artisanal fishery in a southern Italian coastal area
Fisheries Research 69 (2004) 359–369
Structure and evolution of the artisanal fishery in a southern Italian coastal area Francesco Collocaa , Valerio Crespib,∗ , Sandro Cerasic , Salvatore R. Coppolab a
Department of Animal and Human Biology, University of Rome, La Sapienza, Italy b FAO Fisheries Department, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy c Maja p.c.r.l., Via. G. Rovani, Rome, Italy
Received 18 August 2003; received in revised form 4 June 2004; accepted 4 June 2004
Abstract The artisanal fishery still represents a very important sector in the whole Mediterranean region but is subject to important changes related to the increase of fishing effort and to the growing development of new activities along the coast. The Italian area of Cilento (southern Tyrrhenian Sea) has the same characteristics as many other Mediterranean coastal zones in which activities, such as fishing, aquaculture and tourism are carried out. It represents a good example of what is happening in the western and central Mediterranean Sea. Data collection and analysis used are described in detail allowing the application of the same methodology in areas having the same characteristics. In Cilento many changes have occurred during the last decades, in particular a decrease of fishing yield followed by an increase of fishing effort, a growing loss of traditional fishing methods and conflicts for fishing grounds. The artisanal fishery seems to show a positive feedback to these changes, finding alternative sources of income in tourismrelated activities and adjusting itself to the fluctuation and availability of resources. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Artisanal fishery; Fishing effort; Fishing production; Mediterranean Sea; Italy
1. Introduction “Artisanal fishery” is defined as any small capital investment fishery, mostly by the owner fisherman, as opposed to “industrial fishing” which implies significant investments by companies or financial groups. ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 0657055617; fax: +39 0657053020. E-mail address: [email protected] (V. Crespi).
0165-7836/$ – see front matter © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2004.06.014
Artisanal fishing is often associated with the notion of “coastal fishing”, i.e. essentially fisheries located on the continental shelf (0–200 m depth), exploiting areas which can be reached in a few hours from the ports or beaches where the fishermen are based. Fishing gears are extremely diversified and the fleets are generally composed of a large number of boats, mostly of low tonnage, based in a multitude of ports and shelters. Along the Italian coasts artisanal fisheries still represent a very important economic sector, playing an important
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role at local level for tourism and by virtue of its sociocultural implications. According to official statistics, the whole Italian fleet is composed of 19,798 fishing vessels the bulk of which (12,482 vessels, 63% of total fleet) is made up of artisanal vessels using fixed gears. Notwithstanding, its importance for the Italian fishery, the artisanal sector has been very poorly investigated in the past. Most of the research on fishing methods and exploited stocks has been focused on demersal and pelagic resources, many of which are exploited also by artisanal fishery, through the conduct of national and international experimental surveys (Bertrand et al., 2002; Di Natale, 2000; Marano, 2000; Freire and Garc´ıa, 2000). The knowledge of artisanal fishing methods and their associated biological resources is limited to scattered studies on a local basis (Arculeo and Riggio, 1983; Ardizzone, 1985; De Metrio et al., 1985). The lack of quantitative data on a spatial and temporal scale strongly reduces the chance of developing management measures to make fishing methods sustainable in the long term. Moreover, it is necessary to develop standardized data collection routines and indicators of fishing effort for Mediterranean artisanal fishery that make data comparable on a spatial and temporal basis. In this study, we quantified artisanal fishery components (fleet structure, fishing effort, catches, gear, etc.) in the Cilento area, a coastal area of southern Italy. It shows characteristics common to most Italian and Mediterranean coastal areas where various activities overlap and artisanal fisheries suffer from high fishing effort and socio-economic changes of local coastal communities. Two set of data, collected respectively in 1994–1995 (Colloca et al., 1998) and 2001 were analysed to evaluate the potential use both of the stratified sampling design methodology and indicators of catch and fishing effort to assess temporal and spatial changes of artisanal fisheries. This study was funded by the FAOCOPEMED Project to analyse the health status and trend of artisanal fisheries in Mediterranean.
2. Materials and methods The Cilento area located in the southern part of the Campania region spreads over 140 km of coastline along the Tyrrhenian Sea. The coastal shelf
is characterised by high environmental heterogeneity due to the occurrence of rocky bottoms, Posidonia oceanica meadows and sandy shores. Sampling was designed to cover all the study area. The whole area was divided into three fishing zones using the dimension of the fleet and the geographical position of each port as stratification criteria (Fig. 1). Data on artisanal fisheries were collected monthly during two periods, February 1995–January 1996 and March–November 2001 in the four most representative ports: Acciaroli and Marina di Casalvelino (area 1), Palinuro (area 2), and Marina di Camerota (area 3). Fishing fleets of these ports represent respectively 62, 67 and 70% of the whole Cilento fleet as total number of vessels, tonnage and engine power. A total of 75 and 42 daily surveys was conducted respectively in 1995–1996 and 2001 collecting data from 585 vessels (period 1995–1996: 405, period 2001: 180). Data obtained during the study were the following: 1. Fleet dimension: registration number and fishing gear characteristics of active vessels (AV: i.e. vessels having fishing gear on board) and registration number of non-active vessel. 2. Catch and effort data (collected for each vessel returning from a fishing operation): fishing area (position and depth); fishing time (soak time of the gear, trip time); gear dimensions (length, height); landings by species (weight of species or groups of species). Secondary ports were surveyed once a month to record data on fleet dimension and vessel type. Fleet official data concerning vessel registration number, vessel characteristics (tonnage, length, engine power), material used, year of construction, year of inscription and type of fishing license, were obtained consulting the registries of the local maritime offices. Data on vessels registered since 1925 at the maritime offices of Marina di Camerota and Acciaroli were used to obtain the evolution of fishing effort over the last 75 years. Total number of vessels, tonnage and engine power were calculated at 5 year intervals. The short-term changes in the structure by tonnage, length-class and engine power both of artisanal and trawl fleet were analysed by comparing 1995–96 and 2001 data. The ratio of AV vessels to the total fleet (fishing fleet activity ratio) was calculated for each sampling day
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Fig. 1. Map of the investigated area showing the three fishing zones and the main ports.
and port, as an index of fishing activity. The evolution of this index during the year allowed to define peak periods in fishing activity. Temporal changes in fishing effort was analysed using the daily mean number of fishing vessels by gear and by port. In this paper we used the term “fishing method” to indicate a combination of gear, target species and typical fishing period and fishing areas. Analysis was restricted to gillnets and entangling nets because other gears, such as longlines and traps were not much used during the study periods. One-way ANOVA and the Tukey test were used to assess difference in CPUE, calculated as kilogram landed by linear
kilometer of net (kg km−1 ), between fishing gears, periods and areas. Hierarchical cluster analysis, based on the BrayCurtis similarity index, was used to analyse differences in catch composition between different fishing methods. CPUEs data of each gear for each species were used for this purpose. The SIMPER procedure (similarity percentage analysis) was used to identify those species typifying the catch of each group of gear (Clarke, 1993). The observed differences between gears were tested using an analysis of similarity randomization test (ANOSIM, Clarke, 1993). This test allows a paired
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wise test comparison to be performed between groups, calculating a pairwise R value (Clarke and Warwick, 1994) for each couple of groups that can vary between 0 (indistinguishable) and 1 (completely separated: all similarities within groups are less than any similarity between groups). 3. Results 3.1. Long- and short-term evolution of the fleet The general trend observed in the two ports of Acciaroli and Marina di Camerota was a rapid increase in fleet power in terms of total tonnage and engine power from the mid-1960s to the end of the 1980s and an abrupt decrease from 1990 onwards (Fig. 2). During 2001, 191 fishing vessels were registered at the maritime offices of Cilento. Between the two surveys (1995–96 and 2001), the numerical reduction of artisanal fleet was of 25%, while trawlers decreased of 9%. Such decrease was mainly due to the fleet registered at the maritime offices of Sapri, Scario and Marina di Camerota while Acciaroli did not show any temporal difference. 3.2. Fleet structure The main fishery, in terms of number of boats registered (more than 85% of the fleet) was the artisanal one in both periods (1995–1996 and 2001). Trawlers (13.6% of the total number of vessels), however, accounted for about 50% of the fleet total tonnage and fishing power, while purse seiners represented a minor component of the fishing fleet (1.5%). The artisanal fleet includes vessels ranging between 0.5 and 10 t, 0 and 250 HP, 4 and 13 m length. The bulk of the fleet is composed of vessels up to 6 GRT, 8 HP and 9 m length. The frequency distribution by tonnage, engine power and length showed a main component with modal classes respectively at 1–1.9 t, 10–20 HP. Length distribution of vessels did not show a main mode between 4 and 9 m (Fig. 3). Larger vessels, over 7 GRT, 80 HP and 9 m length represented the component of the artisanal fleet exploiting offshore resources. Significant differences in the mean dimensions and engine power of vessels (P < 0.05) were observed between vessels operating in the coastal area and those operating offshore in deep waters.
Fig. 2. Evolution of the fishing fleet in the two main ports on the Cilento area (Marina di Camerota: solid line; Acciaroli: dashed line) since 1925 by number of boats, total tonnage and engine power.
3.3. Fishing methods and catch composition Table 1 shows the number of vessel sampled by fishing category during 1995–1996 and 2001. A total of 16 different fishing methods was sampled and for each, the main fishing period and fishing area were identified. The main fishing gears used by the coastal fishery are set gillnets, trammel nets and combined gillnets–trammel nets. The first two are mainly used from December to May to target cuttlefish Sepia
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Table 1 Cilento fleet composition by number, gross relative tonnage (GRT) and horse power (HP) during the two sampling period 1995
Fig. 3. Structure of the artisanal fleet of the Cilento area (southern Italy) by relative gross tonnage, engine power and boat length.
officinalis, and to a lesser extent, red mullets Mullus barbatus and M. surmuletus and lobster, Palinurus elephas. Set gillnets are generally employed to catch juveniles of greater amberjack Seriola dumerili in late summer and common pandora Pagellus erythrinus in spring time.
2001
n
GRT
Artisanal Trawlers Purse seiners
216 30 4
708.7 576.3 37
Total
250
1322
HP
n
GRT
HP
8480 6699 405
162 26 3
539 478 20
6541 5593 632
15584
191
1037
12766
The offshore artisanal fishery employs mainly set gillnets for European hake Merluccius merluccius during winter and spring. Bottom and drifting longlines are traditionally employed mainly to catch silver scabbardfish Lepidopus caudatusin autumn and Xiphias gladiusin autumn and winter, though used by few vessels. Offshore and inshore fishing methods showed also marked differences in gear dimensions. Offshore gillnets for hake, that can easily reach 10,000–12,000 m per vessel (average length 7000 m) are generally longer (P < 0.01) than inshore nets that generally do not exceed 4000 m length (average length < 2000 m). Clustering of catch data shows that the four main groups of gillnets and entangling nets used in the Cilento area were separated at 20–40% similarity level (Fig. 4). A first dichotomy was observed between monofilament gillnets for European hake and other gears. Within this latter group, fixed nets targeting cuttlefish showed a low similarity with those targeting red mullets in both sampling periods. Similarly, gillnets used in coastal areas to catch greater amberjack and other nektobenthic species were well separated by the other groups of nets. ANOSYM showed that the observed differences between groups of gears were significant (P < 0.01) and all groups were well separated to each other (R > 0.75, P < 0.05). Table 2 shows the percentage contribution of typical species to within-group similarity calculated for the four groups of gears identified. Gillnets for hake were characterised by a well defined group on benthopelagic species inhabiting deeper shelf and upper slope. Hake, horse mackerel, the squid Illex coindetii, the blackspot sea-bream Pagellus bogaraveo and the chub mackerel Scomber japonicus characterised offshore gillnets catch. The catch of gillnets for greater amberjack was characterised by nektonic species like Sarda
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Fig. 4. Dendrogram of the artisanal fishing methods of the Cilento area (southern Italy) using group-average clustering from Bray-Curtis similarity on square root transformed data on species CPUEs. Codes of the gear: t.n.: trammel net, c.n.: combined trammel–gillnet, g.: monofilament gillnet; m.g.: multifilament gillnet.
Table 2 Percentage contribution of the first 10 typifying species to within-group similarity for the fishing gears used by artisanal fishery in the Cilento area Gillnets for hake (average similarity: 21.8%)
Gillnets for greater hamberjack (average similarity: 35.5%)
Species
Cum.%
Species
Cum.%
Merluccius merluccius Trachurus spp. Illex coindetii Trachurus trachurus Pagellus bogaraveo Scomber japonicus Boops boops Trigla lucerna Pagellus erythrinus Mullus barbatus
33.04 43.13 52.08 58.68 64.57 69.51 73.94 78.28 82.42 85.64
Seriola dumerili Sarda sarda Diplodus sargus Liza spp. Sarpa salpa Epinephelus marginatus Trachinotus ovatus Diplodus vulgaris Pagellus erythrinus Lithognathus mormyrus
43.48 76.06 82.59 88.31 93.49 95.33 96.67 97.99 98.67 99.23
Trammel and combined nets for cuttlefish (average similarity: 47.5%) Sepia officinalis Octopus vulgaris Liza spp. Uranoscopus scaber Diplodus annularis Lithognathus mormyrus Scorpaena scrofa Sarpa salpa Symphodus spp. Mullus surmuletus
Trammel and combined nets for red mullets (average similarity: 42.6%) 19.33 31.31 36.99 41.46 45.83 49.98 54.12 58.22 61.59 64.84
Mullus barbatus Octopus vulgaris Sepia officinalis Mullus surmuletus Uranoscopus scaber Diplodus annularis Lithognathus mormyrus Pagellus acarne Boops boops Scorpaena scrofa
46.73 68.32 84.37 89.74 91.93 93.09 94.17 95.13 96.06 96.93
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Fig. 5. Average CPUEs (kg km−1 net) and standard errors of the main set net types used in the Cilento area (southern Italy) area obtained during 1995–1996 (above) and 2001 (below) surveys. See abbreviations in Fig. 4.
sarda and more strictly benthopelagic species like Diplodus sargus, mullets Liza spp and salema Sarpa salpa. The main differences between the two groups of trammel—combined nets was related mostly to the rank order of the most typical species. These latter were represented by a pool of coastal species inhabiting sandy (i.e. red mullets, cuttlefish, Uranoscopus scaber, Lithognathus mormyrus) and rocky shores (i.e. striped red mullets M. surmuletus, large scaled scorpionfish Scorpaena scrofa). 3.4. Yield and effort Fig. 5 shows the mean CPUEs by gear and period: significant differences between gears were observed only for 1995–1996, data (P < 0.001) but not in CPUEs obtained during 2001 survey (P > 0.05). Comparison between the two study periods showed significant differences (P < 0.05) only for hake gillnets (1995: 6.50 kg km−1 , 2001: 4.55 kg km−1 )
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and combined cuttlefish gillnets–trammel nets (1995: 2.96 kg km−1 , 2001: 4.79 kg km−1 ). Inshore fixed gear did not show differences in catch rate between the two surveys. The reduction of CPUEs for hake gillnets was balanced by an increase in the average gear length between 1995 (6.800 m) and 2001 (9.000 m). Table 3 shows a clear reduction of several activities between the two periods. For instance vessels using offshore gillnets and multifilament gillnets for greater amberjack decreased respectively by 36 and 56%. Such reduction of artisanal activities did not occur, however, in a similar way in the various fishing ports of the area. While Camerota showed a strong reduction of both inshore and offshore fishing activities the other three ports did not show any change between the two periods (Fig. 6). The activity ratio of the fleet showed wide fluctuations day by day according to the weather conditions and the period of the year. The percentage of fishing units in the coastal fishery was generally lower than 75% of the total number of fishing vessels present in port. The two periods showed the same seasonal pattern in the activity of the fleet with a clear reduction of fleet activity ratio from March to July in the ports of Marina di Camerota, Palinuro and Acciaroli. The fleet from Marina di Casalvelino did not decrease its activity in this period. In Acciaroli, where the activity of gillnet fishery was monitored, a higher intensity of fishing activity was observed with values up to 90% (Fig. 7). 3.5. Tourism related activities In summer months, a fleet of 35 vessels (21% of total artisanal fleet), from Marina di Camerota, Palinuro and Scario, are involved in tourism related activities, mainly taking tourists along the shore towards those beaches and rocky caves only accessible from the sea. This activity has increased over the last 10 years and six new vessels licensed for traffic have been built. During recent years, the local fishermen of Marina di Camerota and Palinuro, have established fishing-tourism cooperatives to better manage the tourism activities. The total number of clients in this activity is about 20,000 people. About 50% of these are transported along the shore, 40% take part to fishing activities, mainly conducted using purse seiners, and 10% are scuba divers.
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Table 3 List of the artisanal gears of the Cilento area with respective target species, number of active vessels by year, fishing period and area Gear type
Target species
Trammel nets/combined nets Trammel nets/combined nets Trammel nets/combined nets Trammel nets Combined nets Monofilament gillnets Monofilament gillnets Monofilament gillnets Monofilament gillnets Gillnets Boat seine Driftnets Floating longlines Bottom longlines Bottom longlines Bottom longlines
Sepia officinalis Scorpaena spp. Mullus spp. Palinurus elephas Lithognatus mormyrus Merluccius merluccius Pagellus erythrinus Mullus spp. Sphyraena sphyraena Seriola dumerilii Sardina pilchardus larvae Engraulis encrasicolus Xiphias gladius Merluccius merluccius Lepidopus caudatus Sparidae-Serranidae
No. of active vessels 1995
2001
49 29 7 13 7 25 4
47 15 7 5
2 23 1 9 21 5 9 7
16 2 3 1 10 1 9 4 9 5
Period
Area
XII–VI I–X VII–XI VI–VIII V–IX XII–VI II–VI VII–XI IX–XI IX–XI I–IV IV–VI X–XI I–VII VI–X I–XII
Coastal shelf (3–40 m) Rocky-detritic bottoms (10–50 m) Coastal shelf (3–50 m) Coastal shelf (15–50 m) Sandy bottoms (5–20 m) Deep shelf-upper slope (120–500 m) Coastal shelf (30–60 m) Coastal shelf (3–50 m) Coastal shelf (3–20 m) Coastal shelf (3–30 m) Coastal shore (1–10 m) Offshore neritic waters Offshore neritic waters Deep shelf-upper slope (120–500 m) Deep shelf-upper slope (120–500 m) Rocky bottoms (10–50 m)
Fig. 6. Average number of active vessels by gear type in the main ports of the Cilento area (southern Italy). White bars: 1995–1996 survey; grey bars: 2001 survey.
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Fig. 7. Percentage of active vessels by sampling day in the main ports of the Cilento area (southern Italy); 1995–1996: (䊉); 2001: ().
4. Discussion In the present study, a comparison of data on a long (official data since 1925) and short time-scale basis (5 years data since 1995) allowed for better understand of the evolutionary trend of the artisanal fishery in a southern Italy area (Cilento, Campania). In this area the artisanal fishery is still representing, like in the whole Campania region (IREPA, 1999), the bulk of fishery with more than 85% of the total fishing fleet. This fishery remains an important revenue for the local communities playing a relevant role at local level for tourism by virtue of its cultural traditions. The stratified sampling design and data collection routines used in this study enabled a general evaluation of the status and an exhaustive description of the artisanal fishing methods in the Cilento area. The same methodology could be applied to the majority of artisanal Mediterranean fisheries. The structure of artisanal fleet showed the cooccurrence of two main segments, corresponding to small vessels operating inshore and larger vessels
which basically exploit offshore stocks. These two segments should be considered separately in catch and effort statistics because they do not share the same fishing areas and resources. Farrugio and Le Corre (1993) suggested considering the activity ratio of the fleet as an indicator of the artisanal fishing effort. We suggest combining this indicator with data on gear dimensions to better define intensity of fishing effort. Biological and structural parameters (CPUEs, Catch/Boat tonnage, fleet activity ratios, daily number of vessels by fishing area, etc.) could be used as a tool to analyse the health status and trend of artisanal fisheries. Data on active vessels in the Cilento area showed that only a part of the official fleet was active daily and involved in fishing. Fluctuation of fishing effort due to this active portion of the fleet during the year did not show changes between the two period considered (1995 and 2001), suggesting that the observed pattern is due to a consolidated fishing tradition in the area. Fishing effort is mostly concentrated in the winter–spring period both for offshore and inshore
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artisanal vessels. In this period, fishing activity is mainly oriented toward the exploitation of cuttlefish S. officinalis in the coastal area and hake M. merluccius on the deeper shelf and upper slope area. In summer and autumn, there is a switch of activities toward other target species like red mullets Mullus spp. and silver scabbardfish L. caudatus, while autumn is mostly a period devoted to the exploitation of pelagic and nektobenthic species (i.e. Xiphias gladius, Seriola dumerili). Fishing methods in the Cilento showed also remarkable differences on a small spatial scale (port) in relation to environmental characteristics (i.e. coastal shelf size, bed steepness, benthic habitats, etc.), fishing traditions, and socio-economic factors. Such small-scale temporal and spatial variability in artisanal activities suggests that the collection of catch and effort data for management aims should necessarily be conducted on a fine grained basis. The evolution of the fishing fleets in the area during the last century showed abrupt increases in fishing effort, in terms of total engine power and total tonnage, at the beginning of 1970s, that can be related to the development of new fishing methods, such as otter trawling and gillnets for hake, which need larger and more powerful vessels than those used for traditional activities in coastal areas. This increase of fleet capacity, seem to contrast with the decreasing trend in the total number of vessels, observed since the end of the Second World War (1945–1950). Such numerical reduction involved mainly those small vessels operating inshore, mostly without engines and with a limited amount of fishing gear, which represented the bulk of the fleet since the 1950s. The number of vessels, however, cannot be considered a good indicator of fishing effort because, in contrast to other indicators, such as total engine power and total tonnage, it is poorly correlated with the total amount of gear used (total length of fixed nets, total number of hooks, etc.). A similar process was observed in other Italian coastal areas (Ardizzone, 1985; Scaccini et al., 1970). This trend was inverted at the end of the 1980s as results of the general evolution of the local social structure and the increased importance of tourism within the coastal activities. The reduction of the fleet accelerated during the last 5 years due to the conversion of vessels towards tourism-based activities (tourist–transport, tourism fishing) and the low yield of artisanal gears. The CPUEs in the Cilento
coastal area appeared to be significantly lower than those recorded in the Tyrrhenian Sea during the last 30 years (Bolognari et al., 1971; Arculeo and Riggio, 1983) suggesting a general overexploitation of coastal resources. This is probably also related both to the oligotrophic condition of coastal waters and the reduced extension of the continental shelf which can reduce the production of local stocks compared with that of more productive areas. The reduction of local fleet in the last 5 years was also induced by the EC decomissioning incentives within the Italian fishing fleet (see EC, 2002). Cilento is an important tourist resort during the summer months. The local population may increase by 100% or more between July and August. In the ports of Palinuro, Marina di Camerota and Scario most of the fishing vessels interrupt fishing activities from June–July to September, gears are landed and vessels are fitted out to host tourists. This activity has increased over the last 10 years and new vessels licensed for traffic have been built. A multidisciplinary approach is particularly suitable for those fisheries which are very sensitive to ecological change (in stock dimensions and habitat quality), to the socio-economic evolution of coastal communities, and to market and fishery regulations. Reduction of the fleet and a parallel increase of tourism-based activities in some ports of the area seem to indicate a positive feedback according to the acceptable level of fishing effort which adjusts itself to the dimensions and availability of resources. Low investment in vessels and gears and the chance to convert towards tourism-based activities may help artisanal fleets to reduce their fishing effort on traditional resources. This feedback effect does not occur in the Acciaroli hake fishery which reacts to the reduction of the resources by increasing fishing effort. This fishery suffers from overcapitalization, a low tourism impact on fishing activities, and a heavy impact of trawl fishery on the hake stock. The Cilento area shows the same characteristics as other areas of Mediterranean (i.e. LanguedocRoussillon region in France, Guillou et al., 2002) in which a general reduction of the artisanal fishery is occurring due to the decreasing of fishing yield, at least for hake fishery, and to the development of more profitable coastal activities such as tourism and aquaculture. The local situation of Cilento could be generalized
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to the artisanal fishery in the whole western Mediterranean where it is becoming less and less a highly sociocultural–historical activity. It is losing its characteristic of being a family producing unit, due to low CPUEs and changing fishing traditions. More effective investment could be devoted to the reduction of wasteful fishing practices and to excessive levels of fishing effort. More rational planning should be based on a proper assessment of the resources and should take into account that a healthy artisanal fishery and the associated coastal communities would play a key role in the economic activities in the Mediterranean fisheries sector.
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Structure and evolution of the artisanal fishery in a southern Italian coastal area Francesco Collocaa , Valerio Crespib,∗ , Sandro Cerasic , Salvatore R. Coppolab a
Department of Animal and Human Biology, University of Rome, La Sapienza, Italy b FAO Fisheries Department, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy c Maja p.c.r.l., Via. G. Rovani, Rome, Italy
Received 18 August 2003; received in revised form 4 June 2004; accepted 4 June 2004
Abstract The artisanal fishery still represents a very important sector in the whole Mediterranean region but is subject to important changes related to the increase of fishing effort and to the growing development of new activities along the coast. The Italian area of Cilento (southern Tyrrhenian Sea) has the same characteristics as many other Mediterranean coastal zones in which activities, such as fishing, aquaculture and tourism are carried out. It represents a good example of what is happening in the western and central Mediterranean Sea. Data collection and analysis used are described in detail allowing the application of the same methodology in areas having the same characteristics. In Cilento many changes have occurred during the last decades, in particular a decrease of fishing yield followed by an increase of fishing effort, a growing loss of traditional fishing methods and conflicts for fishing grounds. The artisanal fishery seems to show a positive feedback to these changes, finding alternative sources of income in tourismrelated activities and adjusting itself to the fluctuation and availability of resources. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Artisanal fishery; Fishing effort; Fishing production; Mediterranean Sea; Italy
1. Introduction “Artisanal fishery” is defined as any small capital investment fishery, mostly by the owner fisherman, as opposed to “industrial fishing” which implies significant investments by companies or financial groups. ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 0657055617; fax: +39 0657053020. E-mail address: [email protected] (V. Crespi).
0165-7836/$ – see front matter © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2004.06.014
Artisanal fishing is often associated with the notion of “coastal fishing”, i.e. essentially fisheries located on the continental shelf (0–200 m depth), exploiting areas which can be reached in a few hours from the ports or beaches where the fishermen are based. Fishing gears are extremely diversified and the fleets are generally composed of a large number of boats, mostly of low tonnage, based in a multitude of ports and shelters. Along the Italian coasts artisanal fisheries still represent a very important economic sector, playing an important
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role at local level for tourism and by virtue of its sociocultural implications. According to official statistics, the whole Italian fleet is composed of 19,798 fishing vessels the bulk of which (12,482 vessels, 63% of total fleet) is made up of artisanal vessels using fixed gears. Notwithstanding, its importance for the Italian fishery, the artisanal sector has been very poorly investigated in the past. Most of the research on fishing methods and exploited stocks has been focused on demersal and pelagic resources, many of which are exploited also by artisanal fishery, through the conduct of national and international experimental surveys (Bertrand et al., 2002; Di Natale, 2000; Marano, 2000; Freire and Garc´ıa, 2000). The knowledge of artisanal fishing methods and their associated biological resources is limited to scattered studies on a local basis (Arculeo and Riggio, 1983; Ardizzone, 1985; De Metrio et al., 1985). The lack of quantitative data on a spatial and temporal scale strongly reduces the chance of developing management measures to make fishing methods sustainable in the long term. Moreover, it is necessary to develop standardized data collection routines and indicators of fishing effort for Mediterranean artisanal fishery that make data comparable on a spatial and temporal basis. In this study, we quantified artisanal fishery components (fleet structure, fishing effort, catches, gear, etc.) in the Cilento area, a coastal area of southern Italy. It shows characteristics common to most Italian and Mediterranean coastal areas where various activities overlap and artisanal fisheries suffer from high fishing effort and socio-economic changes of local coastal communities. Two set of data, collected respectively in 1994–1995 (Colloca et al., 1998) and 2001 were analysed to evaluate the potential use both of the stratified sampling design methodology and indicators of catch and fishing effort to assess temporal and spatial changes of artisanal fisheries. This study was funded by the FAOCOPEMED Project to analyse the health status and trend of artisanal fisheries in Mediterranean.
2. Materials and methods The Cilento area located in the southern part of the Campania region spreads over 140 km of coastline along the Tyrrhenian Sea. The coastal shelf
is characterised by high environmental heterogeneity due to the occurrence of rocky bottoms, Posidonia oceanica meadows and sandy shores. Sampling was designed to cover all the study area. The whole area was divided into three fishing zones using the dimension of the fleet and the geographical position of each port as stratification criteria (Fig. 1). Data on artisanal fisheries were collected monthly during two periods, February 1995–January 1996 and March–November 2001 in the four most representative ports: Acciaroli and Marina di Casalvelino (area 1), Palinuro (area 2), and Marina di Camerota (area 3). Fishing fleets of these ports represent respectively 62, 67 and 70% of the whole Cilento fleet as total number of vessels, tonnage and engine power. A total of 75 and 42 daily surveys was conducted respectively in 1995–1996 and 2001 collecting data from 585 vessels (period 1995–1996: 405, period 2001: 180). Data obtained during the study were the following: 1. Fleet dimension: registration number and fishing gear characteristics of active vessels (AV: i.e. vessels having fishing gear on board) and registration number of non-active vessel. 2. Catch and effort data (collected for each vessel returning from a fishing operation): fishing area (position and depth); fishing time (soak time of the gear, trip time); gear dimensions (length, height); landings by species (weight of species or groups of species). Secondary ports were surveyed once a month to record data on fleet dimension and vessel type. Fleet official data concerning vessel registration number, vessel characteristics (tonnage, length, engine power), material used, year of construction, year of inscription and type of fishing license, were obtained consulting the registries of the local maritime offices. Data on vessels registered since 1925 at the maritime offices of Marina di Camerota and Acciaroli were used to obtain the evolution of fishing effort over the last 75 years. Total number of vessels, tonnage and engine power were calculated at 5 year intervals. The short-term changes in the structure by tonnage, length-class and engine power both of artisanal and trawl fleet were analysed by comparing 1995–96 and 2001 data. The ratio of AV vessels to the total fleet (fishing fleet activity ratio) was calculated for each sampling day
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Fig. 1. Map of the investigated area showing the three fishing zones and the main ports.
and port, as an index of fishing activity. The evolution of this index during the year allowed to define peak periods in fishing activity. Temporal changes in fishing effort was analysed using the daily mean number of fishing vessels by gear and by port. In this paper we used the term “fishing method” to indicate a combination of gear, target species and typical fishing period and fishing areas. Analysis was restricted to gillnets and entangling nets because other gears, such as longlines and traps were not much used during the study periods. One-way ANOVA and the Tukey test were used to assess difference in CPUE, calculated as kilogram landed by linear
kilometer of net (kg km−1 ), between fishing gears, periods and areas. Hierarchical cluster analysis, based on the BrayCurtis similarity index, was used to analyse differences in catch composition between different fishing methods. CPUEs data of each gear for each species were used for this purpose. The SIMPER procedure (similarity percentage analysis) was used to identify those species typifying the catch of each group of gear (Clarke, 1993). The observed differences between gears were tested using an analysis of similarity randomization test (ANOSIM, Clarke, 1993). This test allows a paired
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wise test comparison to be performed between groups, calculating a pairwise R value (Clarke and Warwick, 1994) for each couple of groups that can vary between 0 (indistinguishable) and 1 (completely separated: all similarities within groups are less than any similarity between groups). 3. Results 3.1. Long- and short-term evolution of the fleet The general trend observed in the two ports of Acciaroli and Marina di Camerota was a rapid increase in fleet power in terms of total tonnage and engine power from the mid-1960s to the end of the 1980s and an abrupt decrease from 1990 onwards (Fig. 2). During 2001, 191 fishing vessels were registered at the maritime offices of Cilento. Between the two surveys (1995–96 and 2001), the numerical reduction of artisanal fleet was of 25%, while trawlers decreased of 9%. Such decrease was mainly due to the fleet registered at the maritime offices of Sapri, Scario and Marina di Camerota while Acciaroli did not show any temporal difference. 3.2. Fleet structure The main fishery, in terms of number of boats registered (more than 85% of the fleet) was the artisanal one in both periods (1995–1996 and 2001). Trawlers (13.6% of the total number of vessels), however, accounted for about 50% of the fleet total tonnage and fishing power, while purse seiners represented a minor component of the fishing fleet (1.5%). The artisanal fleet includes vessels ranging between 0.5 and 10 t, 0 and 250 HP, 4 and 13 m length. The bulk of the fleet is composed of vessels up to 6 GRT, 8 HP and 9 m length. The frequency distribution by tonnage, engine power and length showed a main component with modal classes respectively at 1–1.9 t, 10–20 HP. Length distribution of vessels did not show a main mode between 4 and 9 m (Fig. 3). Larger vessels, over 7 GRT, 80 HP and 9 m length represented the component of the artisanal fleet exploiting offshore resources. Significant differences in the mean dimensions and engine power of vessels (P < 0.05) were observed between vessels operating in the coastal area and those operating offshore in deep waters.
Fig. 2. Evolution of the fishing fleet in the two main ports on the Cilento area (Marina di Camerota: solid line; Acciaroli: dashed line) since 1925 by number of boats, total tonnage and engine power.
3.3. Fishing methods and catch composition Table 1 shows the number of vessel sampled by fishing category during 1995–1996 and 2001. A total of 16 different fishing methods was sampled and for each, the main fishing period and fishing area were identified. The main fishing gears used by the coastal fishery are set gillnets, trammel nets and combined gillnets–trammel nets. The first two are mainly used from December to May to target cuttlefish Sepia
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Table 1 Cilento fleet composition by number, gross relative tonnage (GRT) and horse power (HP) during the two sampling period 1995
Fig. 3. Structure of the artisanal fleet of the Cilento area (southern Italy) by relative gross tonnage, engine power and boat length.
officinalis, and to a lesser extent, red mullets Mullus barbatus and M. surmuletus and lobster, Palinurus elephas. Set gillnets are generally employed to catch juveniles of greater amberjack Seriola dumerili in late summer and common pandora Pagellus erythrinus in spring time.
2001
n
GRT
Artisanal Trawlers Purse seiners
216 30 4
708.7 576.3 37
Total
250
1322
HP
n
GRT
HP
8480 6699 405
162 26 3
539 478 20
6541 5593 632
15584
191
1037
12766
The offshore artisanal fishery employs mainly set gillnets for European hake Merluccius merluccius during winter and spring. Bottom and drifting longlines are traditionally employed mainly to catch silver scabbardfish Lepidopus caudatusin autumn and Xiphias gladiusin autumn and winter, though used by few vessels. Offshore and inshore fishing methods showed also marked differences in gear dimensions. Offshore gillnets for hake, that can easily reach 10,000–12,000 m per vessel (average length 7000 m) are generally longer (P < 0.01) than inshore nets that generally do not exceed 4000 m length (average length < 2000 m). Clustering of catch data shows that the four main groups of gillnets and entangling nets used in the Cilento area were separated at 20–40% similarity level (Fig. 4). A first dichotomy was observed between monofilament gillnets for European hake and other gears. Within this latter group, fixed nets targeting cuttlefish showed a low similarity with those targeting red mullets in both sampling periods. Similarly, gillnets used in coastal areas to catch greater amberjack and other nektobenthic species were well separated by the other groups of nets. ANOSYM showed that the observed differences between groups of gears were significant (P < 0.01) and all groups were well separated to each other (R > 0.75, P < 0.05). Table 2 shows the percentage contribution of typical species to within-group similarity calculated for the four groups of gears identified. Gillnets for hake were characterised by a well defined group on benthopelagic species inhabiting deeper shelf and upper slope. Hake, horse mackerel, the squid Illex coindetii, the blackspot sea-bream Pagellus bogaraveo and the chub mackerel Scomber japonicus characterised offshore gillnets catch. The catch of gillnets for greater amberjack was characterised by nektonic species like Sarda
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Fig. 4. Dendrogram of the artisanal fishing methods of the Cilento area (southern Italy) using group-average clustering from Bray-Curtis similarity on square root transformed data on species CPUEs. Codes of the gear: t.n.: trammel net, c.n.: combined trammel–gillnet, g.: monofilament gillnet; m.g.: multifilament gillnet.
Table 2 Percentage contribution of the first 10 typifying species to within-group similarity for the fishing gears used by artisanal fishery in the Cilento area Gillnets for hake (average similarity: 21.8%)
Gillnets for greater hamberjack (average similarity: 35.5%)
Species
Cum.%
Species
Cum.%
Merluccius merluccius Trachurus spp. Illex coindetii Trachurus trachurus Pagellus bogaraveo Scomber japonicus Boops boops Trigla lucerna Pagellus erythrinus Mullus barbatus
33.04 43.13 52.08 58.68 64.57 69.51 73.94 78.28 82.42 85.64
Seriola dumerili Sarda sarda Diplodus sargus Liza spp. Sarpa salpa Epinephelus marginatus Trachinotus ovatus Diplodus vulgaris Pagellus erythrinus Lithognathus mormyrus
43.48 76.06 82.59 88.31 93.49 95.33 96.67 97.99 98.67 99.23
Trammel and combined nets for cuttlefish (average similarity: 47.5%) Sepia officinalis Octopus vulgaris Liza spp. Uranoscopus scaber Diplodus annularis Lithognathus mormyrus Scorpaena scrofa Sarpa salpa Symphodus spp. Mullus surmuletus
Trammel and combined nets for red mullets (average similarity: 42.6%) 19.33 31.31 36.99 41.46 45.83 49.98 54.12 58.22 61.59 64.84
Mullus barbatus Octopus vulgaris Sepia officinalis Mullus surmuletus Uranoscopus scaber Diplodus annularis Lithognathus mormyrus Pagellus acarne Boops boops Scorpaena scrofa
46.73 68.32 84.37 89.74 91.93 93.09 94.17 95.13 96.06 96.93
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Fig. 5. Average CPUEs (kg km−1 net) and standard errors of the main set net types used in the Cilento area (southern Italy) area obtained during 1995–1996 (above) and 2001 (below) surveys. See abbreviations in Fig. 4.
sarda and more strictly benthopelagic species like Diplodus sargus, mullets Liza spp and salema Sarpa salpa. The main differences between the two groups of trammel—combined nets was related mostly to the rank order of the most typical species. These latter were represented by a pool of coastal species inhabiting sandy (i.e. red mullets, cuttlefish, Uranoscopus scaber, Lithognathus mormyrus) and rocky shores (i.e. striped red mullets M. surmuletus, large scaled scorpionfish Scorpaena scrofa). 3.4. Yield and effort Fig. 5 shows the mean CPUEs by gear and period: significant differences between gears were observed only for 1995–1996, data (P < 0.001) but not in CPUEs obtained during 2001 survey (P > 0.05). Comparison between the two study periods showed significant differences (P < 0.05) only for hake gillnets (1995: 6.50 kg km−1 , 2001: 4.55 kg km−1 )
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and combined cuttlefish gillnets–trammel nets (1995: 2.96 kg km−1 , 2001: 4.79 kg km−1 ). Inshore fixed gear did not show differences in catch rate between the two surveys. The reduction of CPUEs for hake gillnets was balanced by an increase in the average gear length between 1995 (6.800 m) and 2001 (9.000 m). Table 3 shows a clear reduction of several activities between the two periods. For instance vessels using offshore gillnets and multifilament gillnets for greater amberjack decreased respectively by 36 and 56%. Such reduction of artisanal activities did not occur, however, in a similar way in the various fishing ports of the area. While Camerota showed a strong reduction of both inshore and offshore fishing activities the other three ports did not show any change between the two periods (Fig. 6). The activity ratio of the fleet showed wide fluctuations day by day according to the weather conditions and the period of the year. The percentage of fishing units in the coastal fishery was generally lower than 75% of the total number of fishing vessels present in port. The two periods showed the same seasonal pattern in the activity of the fleet with a clear reduction of fleet activity ratio from March to July in the ports of Marina di Camerota, Palinuro and Acciaroli. The fleet from Marina di Casalvelino did not decrease its activity in this period. In Acciaroli, where the activity of gillnet fishery was monitored, a higher intensity of fishing activity was observed with values up to 90% (Fig. 7). 3.5. Tourism related activities In summer months, a fleet of 35 vessels (21% of total artisanal fleet), from Marina di Camerota, Palinuro and Scario, are involved in tourism related activities, mainly taking tourists along the shore towards those beaches and rocky caves only accessible from the sea. This activity has increased over the last 10 years and six new vessels licensed for traffic have been built. During recent years, the local fishermen of Marina di Camerota and Palinuro, have established fishing-tourism cooperatives to better manage the tourism activities. The total number of clients in this activity is about 20,000 people. About 50% of these are transported along the shore, 40% take part to fishing activities, mainly conducted using purse seiners, and 10% are scuba divers.
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Table 3 List of the artisanal gears of the Cilento area with respective target species, number of active vessels by year, fishing period and area Gear type
Target species
Trammel nets/combined nets Trammel nets/combined nets Trammel nets/combined nets Trammel nets Combined nets Monofilament gillnets Monofilament gillnets Monofilament gillnets Monofilament gillnets Gillnets Boat seine Driftnets Floating longlines Bottom longlines Bottom longlines Bottom longlines
Sepia officinalis Scorpaena spp. Mullus spp. Palinurus elephas Lithognatus mormyrus Merluccius merluccius Pagellus erythrinus Mullus spp. Sphyraena sphyraena Seriola dumerilii Sardina pilchardus larvae Engraulis encrasicolus Xiphias gladius Merluccius merluccius Lepidopus caudatus Sparidae-Serranidae
No. of active vessels 1995
2001
49 29 7 13 7 25 4
47 15 7 5
2 23 1 9 21 5 9 7
16 2 3 1 10 1 9 4 9 5
Period
Area
XII–VI I–X VII–XI VI–VIII V–IX XII–VI II–VI VII–XI IX–XI IX–XI I–IV IV–VI X–XI I–VII VI–X I–XII
Coastal shelf (3–40 m) Rocky-detritic bottoms (10–50 m) Coastal shelf (3–50 m) Coastal shelf (15–50 m) Sandy bottoms (5–20 m) Deep shelf-upper slope (120–500 m) Coastal shelf (30–60 m) Coastal shelf (3–50 m) Coastal shelf (3–20 m) Coastal shelf (3–30 m) Coastal shore (1–10 m) Offshore neritic waters Offshore neritic waters Deep shelf-upper slope (120–500 m) Deep shelf-upper slope (120–500 m) Rocky bottoms (10–50 m)
Fig. 6. Average number of active vessels by gear type in the main ports of the Cilento area (southern Italy). White bars: 1995–1996 survey; grey bars: 2001 survey.
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Fig. 7. Percentage of active vessels by sampling day in the main ports of the Cilento area (southern Italy); 1995–1996: (䊉); 2001: ().
4. Discussion In the present study, a comparison of data on a long (official data since 1925) and short time-scale basis (5 years data since 1995) allowed for better understand of the evolutionary trend of the artisanal fishery in a southern Italy area (Cilento, Campania). In this area the artisanal fishery is still representing, like in the whole Campania region (IREPA, 1999), the bulk of fishery with more than 85% of the total fishing fleet. This fishery remains an important revenue for the local communities playing a relevant role at local level for tourism by virtue of its cultural traditions. The stratified sampling design and data collection routines used in this study enabled a general evaluation of the status and an exhaustive description of the artisanal fishing methods in the Cilento area. The same methodology could be applied to the majority of artisanal Mediterranean fisheries. The structure of artisanal fleet showed the cooccurrence of two main segments, corresponding to small vessels operating inshore and larger vessels
which basically exploit offshore stocks. These two segments should be considered separately in catch and effort statistics because they do not share the same fishing areas and resources. Farrugio and Le Corre (1993) suggested considering the activity ratio of the fleet as an indicator of the artisanal fishing effort. We suggest combining this indicator with data on gear dimensions to better define intensity of fishing effort. Biological and structural parameters (CPUEs, Catch/Boat tonnage, fleet activity ratios, daily number of vessels by fishing area, etc.) could be used as a tool to analyse the health status and trend of artisanal fisheries. Data on active vessels in the Cilento area showed that only a part of the official fleet was active daily and involved in fishing. Fluctuation of fishing effort due to this active portion of the fleet during the year did not show changes between the two period considered (1995 and 2001), suggesting that the observed pattern is due to a consolidated fishing tradition in the area. Fishing effort is mostly concentrated in the winter–spring period both for offshore and inshore
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artisanal vessels. In this period, fishing activity is mainly oriented toward the exploitation of cuttlefish S. officinalis in the coastal area and hake M. merluccius on the deeper shelf and upper slope area. In summer and autumn, there is a switch of activities toward other target species like red mullets Mullus spp. and silver scabbardfish L. caudatus, while autumn is mostly a period devoted to the exploitation of pelagic and nektobenthic species (i.e. Xiphias gladius, Seriola dumerili). Fishing methods in the Cilento showed also remarkable differences on a small spatial scale (port) in relation to environmental characteristics (i.e. coastal shelf size, bed steepness, benthic habitats, etc.), fishing traditions, and socio-economic factors. Such small-scale temporal and spatial variability in artisanal activities suggests that the collection of catch and effort data for management aims should necessarily be conducted on a fine grained basis. The evolution of the fishing fleets in the area during the last century showed abrupt increases in fishing effort, in terms of total engine power and total tonnage, at the beginning of 1970s, that can be related to the development of new fishing methods, such as otter trawling and gillnets for hake, which need larger and more powerful vessels than those used for traditional activities in coastal areas. This increase of fleet capacity, seem to contrast with the decreasing trend in the total number of vessels, observed since the end of the Second World War (1945–1950). Such numerical reduction involved mainly those small vessels operating inshore, mostly without engines and with a limited amount of fishing gear, which represented the bulk of the fleet since the 1950s. The number of vessels, however, cannot be considered a good indicator of fishing effort because, in contrast to other indicators, such as total engine power and total tonnage, it is poorly correlated with the total amount of gear used (total length of fixed nets, total number of hooks, etc.). A similar process was observed in other Italian coastal areas (Ardizzone, 1985; Scaccini et al., 1970). This trend was inverted at the end of the 1980s as results of the general evolution of the local social structure and the increased importance of tourism within the coastal activities. The reduction of the fleet accelerated during the last 5 years due to the conversion of vessels towards tourism-based activities (tourist–transport, tourism fishing) and the low yield of artisanal gears. The CPUEs in the Cilento
coastal area appeared to be significantly lower than those recorded in the Tyrrhenian Sea during the last 30 years (Bolognari et al., 1971; Arculeo and Riggio, 1983) suggesting a general overexploitation of coastal resources. This is probably also related both to the oligotrophic condition of coastal waters and the reduced extension of the continental shelf which can reduce the production of local stocks compared with that of more productive areas. The reduction of local fleet in the last 5 years was also induced by the EC decomissioning incentives within the Italian fishing fleet (see EC, 2002). Cilento is an important tourist resort during the summer months. The local population may increase by 100% or more between July and August. In the ports of Palinuro, Marina di Camerota and Scario most of the fishing vessels interrupt fishing activities from June–July to September, gears are landed and vessels are fitted out to host tourists. This activity has increased over the last 10 years and new vessels licensed for traffic have been built. A multidisciplinary approach is particularly suitable for those fisheries which are very sensitive to ecological change (in stock dimensions and habitat quality), to the socio-economic evolution of coastal communities, and to market and fishery regulations. Reduction of the fleet and a parallel increase of tourism-based activities in some ports of the area seem to indicate a positive feedback according to the acceptable level of fishing effort which adjusts itself to the dimensions and availability of resources. Low investment in vessels and gears and the chance to convert towards tourism-based activities may help artisanal fleets to reduce their fishing effort on traditional resources. This feedback effect does not occur in the Acciaroli hake fishery which reacts to the reduction of the resources by increasing fishing effort. This fishery suffers from overcapitalization, a low tourism impact on fishing activities, and a heavy impact of trawl fishery on the hake stock. The Cilento area shows the same characteristics as other areas of Mediterranean (i.e. LanguedocRoussillon region in France, Guillou et al., 2002) in which a general reduction of the artisanal fishery is occurring due to the decreasing of fishing yield, at least for hake fishery, and to the development of more profitable coastal activities such as tourism and aquaculture. The local situation of Cilento could be generalized
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to the artisanal fishery in the whole western Mediterranean where it is becoming less and less a highly sociocultural–historical activity. It is losing its characteristic of being a family producing unit, due to low CPUEs and changing fishing traditions. More effective investment could be devoted to the reduction of wasteful fishing practices and to excessive levels of fishing effort. More rational planning should be based on a proper assessment of the resources and should take into account that a healthy artisanal fishery and the associated coastal communities would play a key role in the economic activities in the Mediterranean fisheries sector.
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