Protecting Resources While Enhancing Compatible Tourism: a Proposal for an htegrated Approach Marco L. ~ianchini'",Nancy ~ ~ a n ò (Adriana ~), ~rofeta"), Matthew ~amilleri(~), Alicia ~ o s t e i r o 'and ~ ) Sergio ~ a ~ o n e s e ' ~ ) "
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Ist. Biologia Agro-anzbientale Forestale, CM, 00016 Monterotondo RM, Italy Tel: (39) 0690672531 Far: (39) 069064492 Emaik
[email protected] Dq,.Biologia Aninuùe EcoL Mar., UiSversità, S& Sperone, 98100 Messing, Iitdy Tel: (39) 090394441 Emnil:
[email protected] Malta Cerztrefor Fisheries Sciences, Fort San Lucian, Marsaxlokk, Malta Tek (356) 21655525 Email:
[email protected] Ist. Ambiente Marino Costiero, IAMC/CNR, 91026 Mazara TP, 1ùdy Tel: (39) 0923948966 Emaii:
[email protected]
Abstract Authors exarnine the feasibility of establishing no-take zones (NTZ) in soft-bottom areas, based on existing or ad Iioc-sunken shipwrecks, possibly integrating the fishery reserves with fioating "atolls" as a genera1 pleasance initiative. The preliminary quali-quantitative analysis of the fish assembiage near the wreckages seems to demonstrate the effectiveness of such interventions. The feasibility study suggests that the initiative is alsp economically viable. In conclusion, common, already available techniques could be integrated to produce a positive, synergic effect on the manne resources, on the environment and on the tounstic tiuition of the coastal sea.
Fishey reserves or no-take zones niTTZ), defined as limited areas in which fishing is rectncted, are generally considered a suitable tool for fisheries management (Honvood, 2000). NTZs-based hwling interdiction rnaybe of g e a t relevance not only for the protection of nursery areas, but also because they represent a refuge (Agardy, 1997) for highly vulnerable, low mobility and seriously depleted species (such as rays o r rocknshes; Ragonese et al., 2003a.b). Shipmecks prevent trawling and provide shelter for many fish species (Arena et al., 2000). both on coastal waters and in the deep sea (Tunesi and Diviacco, 2002); nevertheless, the increased productivity can be exploited by smail-scale fisheries. On the other hand, shipwrecks represent also primary aims for undenvater excursions; still there are not many wrecks accessible and saie for the average scuba diver. Purposely sinking old boats has many disadvantap, since the hull must be completely cleared from toxic oil and paints' elecmc parts, heavy metais, asbestos, and so on; it must be secured also for diving safety (doorways, metal spikes and sheetc, etc.). With this in mind, a possible solution is to build boats specifically designed to be sunken and fulfill both the pleasure expectancies of the diving parti= and the biological requirements of an artificial banier (Relini et al., 1994). Nevertheless, undenvater recreation is geoerally Limited to active users, leaving out too many average tounsts. Thinking at t h a a floating "atoll", assembled near the wreckage around four submersihle net cages! shail act as a starting basis and allow different activities, such as mooring for catering, rod fishing inside a stocked pen, safe swirnming "in the blue", education and experimentation, besides being a commercial "kiosk in the middle of the sea"; its thigmotrapic amaction i h o d d be partimlarly efficacious for coastal boatinp (up to 3 Mvl off shore) in areas with flat, "dutl" bottoms and coastlines. The preliminary analysis of the quali-quantitative differences of the fish population inside and outside the NTZ seem to dernonsnate the effectiveness of such interventions. The feasibility study suggests that the initiative is also economically viable. in conclusion. common, already available techniques could be integrated to produce a positive, synergic effect on the marine resources. on the environment and on the touristic fruition of the coastai sea. Material and Methods
In order to establish the existence and position of shipwrecks occumng in coastal and shallow (up to 50 m deep) areas around Sicily and the Maltese Islands (Cenhal Mediterranean Sea), data from three main sources were examined: available fishing log-books; a commercial CD-ROM (Sememro, 2001), reporting al1 the ship sinking which happened in the last century in the Meditemnean; local large-scaie nauticai charts. Underwater censuses were conducted duriug October 2003, near 3 of those shipwrecks, whose main charactenstics are reported in Table 1, lying near the Messina Strait; a fourth one, resting deeper, was checked too.
In order to assess the species composition and the spatial distribution of the fish assemblages, and to analyze their specific nchness @e Gimlamo and Mazzoldi, 2001; Harmelin-Vivien et.al., i985; Tunesi and Vacchi, 1993), longitudinal transects and fixed poinis were employed as census techniques: in the first case, a couple of underwater operators (one for each side) recorded al1 the species and estimated the abundance of the respective inàividuds while swimming along the entire length of the ship; in the lauer case, the divers repeatedly recorded and counted species and individuals present in a vimial cylinder, 5 m in diameter and 5 m high (about 400 m3), in three positions (&t, center and bow) to cova ihe whole length of the wreck. 'Ihe fixed point technique was not used on the "Viminale" shipwreck, because her depth does not allow enougii time to the divers. The size of fishes was estimated using 3 classes (large, medium, small), with reference to the maximum size of each species (Relini et al., 1999); when necessary, also the number of specimen was estimated by abundance classes (1; 2-5: 6-10; 11-30; 31-50; 51-100; thereafter by hundreds and thousands), following Hannelin-Vivien et al. (1985). Averages were munded to the higher integer.
Table 1: Characmistics of the 4 shipwrecks examined in the Messina Strait
i R~GOLFITO:merchant ship, about 2000 tsl, sunken in the '70s depth: 0-39 m; subshare: sand and grave1 three most comrnon species: Clzromis clzromis; Boops boops; Coris julis commercial species: Diplodr~ssargus; MliIItis barbutus; Epinephelus nurrginntus n" of censed species: 36 no of censed families: lo sampling: a) 21 fixed points; b) 24 fixed poinis; C)2 transects
FARO'SWRECK: tramper ship, about 3000 tsl, sunken around 1910 depth. 3 3 6 8 m substrate: gravel, pebbles and conglomerates three most common species: Anrlzius mtlzias; Boops boops; Chromis chromis commercia1 species: Serioia dumerilii; Mycteropercu rubra: Epineplrelus costae n" of censed species: 18 n" of censed famuies: 9 sampling l 5 fixed points VALFIOREA: cargo ship (vehicles), 6200 $1. sunken 08/07/1943 depth: 45-81 m subshate: muddy fine sand three most common species: Antltias m d z i w BOOPS boops; C11romischromis commercial species: Diplodus sargus; Epimiepl~luscosrae; E. mnarginatus n" of censed species: 14 n" of censed families: 5 sampling: a) 6 fixed points; b) 1 transect VIMINALE: oceanic passenger liner, 8650 tsl, length 140 m, sunken 25/07/43
depth: I00 m no of censed species: 14 sampiing l transect
suhstrate: sand and mud n" of censed families: 8
Data bave been analyzed with the statistica1 package PRIMER (Clarke and Wanvick, 1994), computing - as synthetic descriptors of the fish assemblage - the mean density of fish per m3 DI:
where Nidis the total number of censed individuals; the specific richness index d, the so-called Margalefs index:
where NSD,,is and Ni,,d are the totai number of censed species and the total number of censed individuais, respectively; the specific diversi@ index H', or Shannon's index:
where p, is the £raction of the' i censed species over the total number of censed individuals; and the equitability index J,a.k.a. Pielou's index:
where H' is the specific diversity index and species.
N,,,,
is the total number of censed
A very simple economica1 analysis has been peifonned to evaluate the cost-benefits of the two possible tounstic interventions, i.e. the sinking of ad Iioc-built hulls and the realization of floating multipurpose "islands".
Over 90 shipwrecks in the Sicilian and Maltese waters were found to respond to the criteria of accessibility for the arnateur divers. The results obtained may be extrapolated to the whole Mediteranean; just considering the coastal l e n a of Sicily and Malta vs. the whole Mediterranean coastal extent (l700146000 km). a few thousands of shipwrecks should lie in its entire coastal waters. On a total of 66 fixed-point samples collecred on the 3 shallower shipwrecks, 41 fish species, belonging to 16 families, have been censed; another 6 different species and 2 farnilies were present on the "Viminale" wreck. The complete list of the censed species is reported in Table 2.
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Table 2: List of the species censed on 4 shipwrecks in the Messina Smait, and mean abundance per fixed point of observation (about 400 m3) Rigoletto A~uhiasanrliias Apogort iniberbis Boops boops Clironiis clironiis Coiiger conger Corisjiilis Denrex de~ire-r Diceiurarchus iabraDiplodus annularis Diplodus sargrts Diplodus vnlgaris Epinephelits aeneus Epinephelus caninus Epiiieplielus cosrae Epinephelus nmrgii~arus Labriri viridis Lichia aniia Lirhogrzarhrts nionnyrus Lwl altrara ìnphius piscaroriils Mullus barbanis Mirllus sirrrn~rleriis Muraeria helena Mycreroperca riibra Oblada nielnnura Pagrus pagrus Parablenniils gartonrgiiie Sarpa salpa Scorpneaa notata Scorpaena porcus Scorpaeria scrofa Seriola dwirerilii Serrariiri cabrilla Serrmus scriba Sparisoina crereiise Spicaraflenlosu Spicara inaeiin Spicaru sinani Spondyliosonm cmtharus Syiiiphodus doderleini Syinphodus inediterraneus Sy~~tpliodus roissalii Syinpliodus ri~ica nmlasso~~iapavo Triprerygion delaisi Triprerygion rripreronorus Uraiioscopw scaber
4 1 131 245
16
Faro's wreek 150 58 36 I 20
Valfiorita 400
Viminale x
130 69
x 25
x I I 1
6
1 1
10 15
x x x
1 1 1
1 x
x x
1 11
x 1 1 1
x
3
x
x
I 16 1
x x
1
1 1 1 3 1 11 3 1 1 1 1 1 14 1 1
2 18 48 x
17 x
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Fish total Species total Fomuies total
487 36
14
311 18 9
735 14 5
n.a 14 8
47 18
The most abundant species are the damselfish (Chronzis chromis), the bogue (Boops boops), the swallowtail seaperch (Antllins anthins), the rainbow wrasse (Cori5 jrrlis) and the ornate wrasse (Thaiassomnpavo). The damselfish is the most common on the "Rigoletto", the wreck closest to the surface, while A. anthius is the dominanr species in al1 the other locations. It is worth noting one of the limitations of the visual census tecbniques: some very common but elusive species, e.g. the conger eel (Conger coizger), result erroneously absent from many locations. The massive presence ofgcegarious species, in particular the damselfish and the swallowtail seaperch, has a heavy impact on the values of the Margalef s, Shannon's and Pielou's indexes (Table 3), which appear homogeneous and relatively low. Table3: Summary of the visual census on 4shipwrecks in the Messina Strait. d= Margaleffs index; H': Shannon's index; J': Pielou's index Rigoletto dominant species I dominant species I1 dominant species Iii number of species number of families d (species richness) II' (specie! diversity) J' (equitability) fish density per m'
C. chromis B. boops C. julis 36 14 5.66 1.69 0.47 1.22
Faro's wreck
A. unthias B. boops C. chromis 18 9 2.96 1.67 0.58 0.78
Valfiorita
Viminale
A. anthias A. anthias B. boops C. chromis 14 14 8 5 1.97 1.49 0.57 1.84
A survey at some shipyards in S-W Sicily showed that there is plenty of scrap metal sheets below standard and of the right thickness, and that conshuction and sinking of ad hoc-built shipwrecks may cost less than 4.00 euroslkg, i.e. below 1,000.000.00 euro for establishing a medium-size wreck. whose undenvater life could be estimated at more than 50 years. The yearly operational cost is almost nil. Conversely, a floating atoll based on 4 suhmersible cages of 20-m diameter and 4-6 m deep (total surface of the shucturz around 2500 m', with a caged volume of 1200-1800 m3. and a linear extent for useful docking of 200 m) requires an investment of 300,000.00 euro, plus another 80,000.00 euro for pontoon, service boats and state concessions. The amoaization for such kind of shuctures is more or less 7 years, while the yearly fixed operation costs (fish stock, fish feed, personnel, insurance, etc.) may range at 40,000.00 euro per season; rotational expenses, which depend on the number of customers, were guesstirnated at another 30,000.00 euro per 2.5 months. Not considering other induced advantages (environment, artisanal fishery. fishing-cum-tourism, athaction of tourists to the area, etc.), the break-even point may be reached in the event of 20 pleasure boats (each with 4-5 customers using its services) docking daily at the strutture dunng the week days and 80-100boats during the week-end, just in a 2-month peak season.
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Diicussian and Conclwions The Mediterranean, a highly traffjcked sea, theater of many wars, guards a large amount of shipwrecks, many of which lying in coastal or shailow areas; a conservative estimate might suggest that at least half of them has the potential of becoming an integrated fishery reserve cuni touristic attraction. The 3 investigatedshipwrecks, and also the fourth one even if only qualitatjvely, show good abundances and acceptable specific richness, better (Pranovi et al., 2000) than the surrounding environments, which are characterized hy poor and hornogeneous bottoms (sand andlor mud). Moreover, also species of commercial importance - such as De~irer deiitex, Seriola dw~zerilii, Licliia atriia, Epineplzelrrs cosfae, E. aeneus, E. carrinus - swim around the shipwrecks, even if their nurnber is low in the shallower wrecks; in fact rhere ic'ancillary evidence that illegal scuba fishing is still performed in the unwatched wrecks (Profeta et al., in press). Using the aiready present shipwrecks (Garcia Charton and Pérez Ruzafa. 2002), or other rnan-made stnictures (Giovanardi and Rinaldi, 1999) or obstacles (Bianchini and Ragonese, 1999), as cose points for setting regulated NTZs has the advantage, in comparison with other options, of creating many refuges without the need of too "invasive" regulations (e.g., the "plaice box" in the N o 6 Sea; Piet and Rijnsdorp, 1998). Still, such an approach requires the mapping (Ragonese e? ai., 2003~;Bianchini et al., 2005) of the existing coastal andor shallow wrecks, together with an assessment of their status (Schembri, 1,999) and the evaluation of their potentials and drawbacks for fishery uses (Lindeboom, 2000). In fact, the literature (Garcia Charton and Pérez Ruzafa, 1999; Anonymous, 1999) has dernonstrated the necessity of a proper spatial and dynamic evaluation before - setting NTSs. It is envisageable that many of the censed shipwrecks will have a potential for multiple uses, with environmental, fisheries and touristic aims. Stili, the dishibution of the shipwrecks seerns contagious, with concenuation in some locations and Iack of wrecks in others: therefore, besides putting at work the existent. it may be envisaged to si& a d hoc-built hulls in areas with low numhers of shipwrecks, in particular where the customer affìuence is greatest, e.g. near touristic resorts and large cities. An exarnple is the region near Rome: 5million residents, 1 0 0 h of homogeneous, fiat coastline, almost no wreck; the Italian side of the Adriatic, with plenty of seaside resorts, is another emblematic case. Still, undenvater divers are a minority of the tourists; many more are looking f a r quieter activities, like pole fishing or simply bathing in clean waters. moreover, while sailing can represent a pleasure in itself, motor boating is generaily a mean of transportation to "somewhere", a place different from its surrounding, which is generally lacking on long sandy beaches. The proposed floating atoll wiU offer a destination for boaters, a safe swimming area for bathers, a sure catch for the sport fishermen, a kiosk withdrinks, snacks and ice crearns for the family; moreover, it will attract wild fish (€or ieftover feed andor acting like a FAD), while protecting the area fram trawlers. Of cowse, the ad hoc-built shipwreck and the floating atoll can b e managed hands-in-hands for synergy, but may also be realized independently.
l MEDCOAST 05
The information and proposals presented in this study underline the irnponance that shipwrecks may havein various fields (Kem, 2001). In fact:
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- physically deter bottom trawling;
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offenng protection to broodstock and juveniles, have a role as settling cores, which spread their effect on the surrounding bottoms, increasing the availability of the biologica1 resources for the smail-scale fisheries; - may create occasions for eco-tourism, particulariy when associated with "surface" interventions, iike the proposed floating artificial atolls; - offer possibilities of economic conversion for the fishermen, from predatory exploiuition of the resources (fishery) to more sustainable activities; - last but not leasf are useful for scientific experimentation.
In conclusion, shipwrecks - caused by aceident or created ad hoc - appear to produce a benefic effect on the marine ecosystem and may have a positive effect on the locai communities and it is therefore suggested to use them as a t001 of envimnmental protection, increased fish productivity and touristic exploitation, for the integrared and rational management of the coastal zone.
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Aeknowled~ements
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Auihors are indebted to M. Gian Michele Iaria, professional scuba diver, for the data on the "Viminale" shipwreck.
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