THE AEGEAN SEA MARINE BIODIVERSITY, FISHERIES, CONSERVATION AND GOVERNANCE
Edited by Tuncer KATAĞAN – Ege University Adnan TOKAÇ – Ege University Şükrü BEŞİKTEPE – Dokuz Eylül University Bayram ÖZTÜRK – Istanbul University
Publication No: 41
Istanbul 2015
THE AEGEAN SEA MARINE BIODIVERSITY, FISHERIES, CONSERVATION AND GOVERNANCE
Bu kitabın bütün hakları Türk Deniz Araştırmaları Vakfı’na aittir. İzinsiz basılamaz, çoğatılamaz. Kitapta bulunan makalelerin bilimsel sorumluluğu yazarlara aittir. All right are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior permission from the Turkish Marine Research Foundation (TÜDAV). Authors are responsible for their articles’ conformity to scientific rules. Editor and Publisher cannot be held responsible for errors or any consequences arising from the use of the information contained in this book; the views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Editors and Publisher. Copyright: Türk Deniz Araştırmaları Vakfı (Turkish Marine Research Foundation) ISBN-978-975-8825-33-2 Citation:
Katağan, T., Tokaç, A., Beşiktepe, Ş., Öztürk, B. (Eds.) (2015). The Aegean Sea Marine Biodiversity, Fisheries, Conservation and Governance. Turkish Marine Research Foundation (TUDAV), Publication No: 41, Istanbul, TURKEY.
Turkish Marine Research Foundation (TÜDAV) P.O. Box: 10, Beykoz / Istanbul, TÜRKİYE Tel: +90 216 424 07 72 Fax: +90 216 42407 71 E-mail:
[email protected] www.tudav.org
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PREFACE
Dear Readers, The book in your hand now is a collective and combined effort of the Turkish scientists about the Aegean Sea coordinated by the Turkish Marine Research Foundation. After publishing two important books for the Turkish fisheries, again with the concerted efforts of the Turkish scientists, we are so happy to contribute to deepening of the knowledge about the Aegean Sea. This book will be an important reference book for many subjects mainly concerning the Turkish part of the Aegean Sea. Besides, we are so pleased to put together experts for various interesting and important topics, such as marine biodiversity, fisheries, pollution, conservation and governance. I’m proud that 75 experts from 16 institutions contributed with 50 papers to this book. Needless to say, the Aegean Sea has vital importance for Turkey in terms of tourism, living and non-living resources, marine transportation, environment, security etc. This sea has unique charactereristics concerning both marine and terrestial biodiversity. For example, one of the critically endangered species in the world, the Mediterranean monk seal, Monachus monachus, lives only in the Turkish and Greek waters in the Mediterranean. Today, the Aegean Sea, however, is suffering from various types of pollution, overfishing, invasion of alien species, and so on. To protect our biological heritages, all stakeholders including scientists and local people should cooperate in every possible way. We really appreciate all contributors to this book of great variety for the better understanding, conservation and sustainable development of the Aegean Sea. I hope this ouvrage will be a useful source of information for scientiscs, sea lovers, students, NGO’s, state administrators and public at large.
Prof. Bayram ÖZTÜRK Director The Turkish Marine Research Foundation
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SPINY LOBSTER (Palinurus elephas FABRICIUS, 1787) AND COMMON LOBSTER (Homarus gammarus LINNAEUS, 1758) FISHING IN THE AEGEAN SEA Onur GÖNÜLAL Istanbul University, Faculty of Fisheries, 34470 Laleli-Istanbul,Turkey
[email protected] 1. Introduction Spiny Lobster (Palinurus elephas, Fabricius, 1787) has a wide distribution in the East Atlantic, from Norway to Morocco, and in the Mediterranean Sea except in the eastern basin (Holthuis, 1991). However a recent checklist of marine arthropods of Turkish coasts reports it at Fethiye Bay, Eastern Mediterranean (Bakır et al. 2014). The lobsters prefers to live among rocks, in small caves with coralligenous beds at depths between 0 and 200 meters. Mature individuals are found as pair or in small groups. The lobsters are active at nights, but do not move except for feeding and reproductive activities. They are omnivorous, feeding on mollusca, echinordermata and crustaceas (Goni and Latrouite, 2005). Palinurus elephas has been assessed as vulnerable under criteria A2 (Goni, R., 2014). Common lobster (Homarus gammarus Linnaeus, 1758) has a wide distribution in the world seas. They are found in the coasts of Britain, Sweden, Denmark as well as from Morocco to the north of Norway in the Atlantic Ocean. In the Mediterranean they are found in the coastal and island areas. They are also reported in the western Black Sea and Istanbul Strait (Bosphorus) (Holthius, 1991). Common lobsters generally prefer depths shallower than 150 m. This species uses rocky reefs for shelter, especially during moulting. They are active at night, feeding on mussels, crabs and polychaeta. They reach sexual maturity at 5 to 8 years depending on temperature. They are sedentary organisms and they migrate for 2-10 km to reproduce and feed (Prodöhl et.al., 2006). Homarus gammarus has been assessed as Least Concern (Butler et.al., 2013). 2. Lobster Fishing P. elephas has been the target of fisheries off Ireland, England, P o r t u g a l , France, Spain, Tunusia, Morocco, Italy, Greece and a l s o Turkey. Data on P.elephas fisheries are very scant despite their socio-economic importance. Traditionally, traps/pots or occasionally diving were used to capture P. elephas. In the Mediterranean, this species is commercially exploited throughout its range where a decline of 30-50% over the last 30 years is estimated. Despite this decline in the Mediterranean, catch rates of
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Spanish Mediterranean lobster fisheries (including both species) have remained stable for the last 10 years at levels about eight times lower than in a population protected in a MPA (Groeneveld et al., 2013). The European lobster is mostly taken with lobster pots, although it occasionally turns up in trammel nets and dredges. Bait tied to lines can tempt them out of their burrows, after which they are caught by hand or with nets. In some areas captured specimens are kept alive in enclosures. This is an abundant species that is harvested in commercial quantities in parts of its range. The main fishing grounds are now the United Kingdom, Ireland, Channel Islands and France (Phillips B., 2013). Despite high commercial exploitation of this species for food, the global annual catch of this species has shown a steady increase over the last 30 years. Lobsters were caught with baited traps until the 1960-1970s then an important change in the hunting strategy took place. Trammel nets replaced trap fishing. Although Mediterranean populations are thought to be overfished, they are still targeted in many areas, especially in remote areas such as archipelagos and islands. In Turkey, boats registered to Cakıl village of Bandırma catch spiny lobsters and common lobsters in the northern Aegean Sea for two months every year (Öztürk, 2011). According to the Turkish fishery regulation circular (TFRC), it is forbidden to fish spiny lobsters and common lobsters except 15th April – 15th June in all of the Turkish territorial waters. However, they can fish out of the Turkish territorial waters by permission from Turkish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry. Besides, it is not allowed to catch spiny lobsters and common lobsters within the 1,5 miles territorial water in the north of Gökceada Island, between Kömür Cape and Kaskaval Cape; and within 3 miles in the south. Although approximate two years ago these boats fished in the Northern Aegean sea including Saros Bay and Babakale (Gönülal, 2012), they catch spiny lobsters and common lobsters only among G ö k ç e a d a , B o z c a d a , Limni Island and 50-150 m depth in the northern Aegean Sea (Figure 1). Furthermore, two boats are reported fishing spiny lobsters in Foça (Central Aegean Sea) (Tokaç et al., 2010). It is reported that spiny lobsters and common lobsters were caught by the nets for dentex (Dentex dentex) in Datca-Bozburun Semi Island (Southern Aegean Sea) (Akyol and Ceyhan, 2007). The lobster fishery in Turkey has traditions that can be traced back to the 1700’s (Doğan, 2011).
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Figure 1. The main areas of lobster fishing in the Aegean Sea Turkey’s fishing fleet that catch the fish of the Aegean Sea is widespread stretching from the north to the south. Main fishing ground in the Aegean Sea offshore area which are used by Turkish fishermen (Öztürk et al. 2002) (Figure 2)
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Figure 2: Main fishing off-shore area of the Turkish fishermen in the Aegean Sea (Öztürk et al. 2002) Fishing boats set lobster-trammel nets in the evening and haul the following morning. Mesh size is between 85 mm and 170 mm, the depth for net is 9-12 m and the nets contain (PA) 210d/9. A float line consists of 157 floats (size 2), a leaded braid consists of 157 lead 50 g. The hanging ratio (E) is between 0.5 (float line) and 0.52 (leaded braid). A floatline is made of PP 4 mm, a lead line PP 3,5 mm twisted braid (Figure 3).
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Figure 3. Lobster trammel net Trammel nets are often rent and lost because they are used at the base of rocks and boulders. The major cause of gear loss is dragging on bottom structures. There are serious problems with losing their gears and recovering them from the reef areas where the fishery is intense. Lost trammel and gillnets are the cause of ghost fishing (Ayaz et al. 2010). Approximately, each fishing boat sets 6000 m of trammel nets in the area and haul every other day. The length and horse power of fishing boat are between 20 - 25 m and between 100 – 220 Hp respectively. Numbers of the fishing boat registered to the ministry are given in Table 1. Table 1. Number of the fishing boat according to years (TUIK, 2014) Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015* Number of 12 10 8 6 3 2 fishing boat *This data get information from “Gökçeada Directorate of Provincial Food Agriculture and livestock” Lobster fisheries have so far been either unregulated, or only lightly regulated by national minimum legal size, supported in some countries by national or local prohibitions on landing egg-bearing females and/or closed seasons. From January 1st, 2002, EU minimum legal size of 87 mm CL (carapace length) came into force which is broadly equivalent to the mean size of first maturity but this varies from area to area throughout the range. In order to protect some endangered species, fishing is restricted during the appropriate period of reproduction of each species. The period between 1st September and 31st December, lobster fishing is not allowed. Additionally minimum size for some species including lobster, is also specified by a new EU Regulation 1967/2006. It is forbidden to fish or to trade in for lobsters that are below 420 gr weight. In terms of size, cathing common lobster with a total length below 300 mm TL or 105 mm CL; spiny lobster below 90 mm CL are also prohibited. According to Greek Legislation fishing is not allowed in terms of size below 240 mm TL for both lobster species (Kapantagakis, 2007). In Turkey, according to regulation 18.08.2012, 283882012/66 minimum legal size of lobster is 250 mm (total length). Until 2008, while minimum legal size is 200 mm for spiny lobster, it is 250 mm for common lobster. After that, minimum legal size was increased to 250 mm for spiny lobster. In addition,
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lobster fishing out of Turkish territorial waters which was limited to the region between Gökçeada and Bozcaada (northern Aegean sea) began to be allowed by Turkish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry a s from 2013. Catch, keeping on board, transhipping, landing, storing, selling and displaying or offering for sale of berried lobster are prohibited by REG. EC 1967/2006. Traps are used mainly for crustaceans and octopuses mainly along the north Aegean coast (Kapantagakis, 2007). The laws regulating the trap fishery are 1967/2006 which restricts the total number of traps per vessel to 250 for the fishing. Because of the large mesh size opening, discard and non-target species are caught in small amount. However, fish, such as scorpionfish (Scorpaena scrofa Linnaeus, 1758), Black bellie dangler (Lophius budegassa Spinola, 1807), Blackhand sole (Pegusa nasuta Pallas 1814), are sometimes caught by the lobster nets. On average five persons work on a boat and one of them is a cook. The total sale of spiny lobsters and common lobsters at the end of the season, after subtraction of the ship's stores and fuel cost, the 50 % of remaining amount and the rest of the amount are given to the boat owner and fishermen, respectively. The fishermen remarks overfishing and that trawlers catch lobsters, but in the meantime trawlers catch fish illegally and this causes unfair competition. Some fisherman who used to catch 12 kg of lobsters years ago now can catch only 1-2 kg (Gönülal, 2012). Even prices in the best season do not exceed 2 5 € per kilogram. Table 2 shows the catches of spiny lobster and common lobster, between 2001 and 2015. Table 2. Total quantity of caught lobster according to years in Turkey (ton) (TUIK, 2014)
10
9
25
15
13
18
8
26
26
15,0
8
7
25,8 9,4 11,5 4,7
8
7
*2015
Common lobster
20
2014
42 14,0
2013
30
2012
2006
22
2011
2005
11
2010
2004
19
2009
2003
18
2008
2002
2007
2001
Spiny lobster
1,1
0,3
1,4
0,09
*This data get information from “Gökçeada Directorate of Provincial Food Agriculture and livestock”
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3. Conclusion The catch of lobsters in Turkey has been decreasing in recent years due to overfishing. The continuation of heavy fishing pressure will deplete the whole lobster stocks in the near future. Although Mediterranean populations are thought to be overfished, they are still targeted in many areas, especially in remote areas such as archipelagos and islands. Our recommendations; Boats greater than 50 gross tons shouldn’t b e licensed for lobster fishing. Boats licensed as purseseiners should fish only by purse seines, those licenced as trawlers should fish just by trawlers. In addition, these fishing boats must comply with the prohibition of place and time. Spiny lobster and common lobster fishing have been special artisanal fishing for years and it should be considered as sustainable fisheries. Lobster boats fishing in the northern Aegean Sea have up to 10.000 m of trammel and nets are soaked 3 or more days. But there isn’t any rule in Turkish legislations. Size and day limits should be regulated. Traps represent one of the most selective gears and have the great vantage that specimens of species with no commercial value or undersized specimens can be released after the trap is recuperated. Even though berried lobster catch is prohibited by REG. EC, 1967/2006, some fishermen spoon berries from female lobster. Berried female lobster shall be returned at sea immediately after accidental catching. Traps also allow to be used for direct restocking of berried lobster. A study about fishing lobster using by trap in The Northern Aegean sea has been started by Gokceada Marine Research Department (Figure 4). Both traps and trammel nets generate bycatch, but while 66% of the individuals caught by traps are lobsters, in trammel net catches this proportion declines to 43% (Goni et al. 2003). In additions, Alverson and Hughes (1996)’s more comprehensive study point out that in traps lobster still made up 61% of the catch (in number) while in trammel nets lobster made up only 1.4% of the catch (in number). The ecological efficiency of the trap fishery reached 97% while that of the trammel net fishery reached only 1.8%. Finally, marine reserves appear to be the only new method envisaged so far for the recovery of lobster stocks and apart from a total ban, fishing with above mentioned methods could be allowed whereas the use of trammel nets should be completely prohibited. Protected lobster populations are expected to contribute to the replenishment of fished populations through increased egg production. In the Mediterranean populations of lobster, egg laying takes place from August to October; the egg carrying period from October to March and hatching from December to March but mainly in January and February (Diaz, 2001). Correlates between settlement and
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water temperatures might suggest a role for temperature in the settlement success. The settlement took place in june-july, after sea surface temperature started to rise. The highest density of juvenile was found at 10-15 m depth. Most lobsters settled in limestone rocks, into empty holes of mussels (Lithophaga lithophaga, Pinna nobilis etc), which provided daytime refuge. As they grew, individuals were increasingly found in larger holes and crevices of the rock surface. Deveciyan (2006) mentioned, about 1.500 spiny lobster and 30.000 common lobster arrive at İstanbul fish market per year in 1900s. Now, this amount has clearly decreased (see Table 2). So, we suggested a marine reserve among Gökçeada, Bozcaada and Lemnos Island considering suitable habitat types for lobster settlement. Here, major problems in the management and exploitation of lobster fisheries are summarized in relation to the increased fishing effort associated with technological advances in hauling gear. We should focus on developing performance indices, both ecological and economic, of the fisheries to provide operative advice for the sustainability of lobster fisheries.
Figure 4. Experimental traps used for lobster fishing at Gökçeada (Northern Aegean Sea)
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