COBECOS Costs and Benefits of Control Strategies

1. COBECOSCosts and Benefits of Control Strategies Italian case study: GSA 9 Ligurian and North Tirrenian Sea bottom trawling fishery Kick off meeting, 22-23 February 2007, Salerno

2. The case study area: GSA 9, Ligurian and North Tirrenian Sea GSA 9 COBECOS kick off meeting, 22-23 February 2007, Salerno

3. The case study fleet: bottom trawlers Source: IREPA, 2007 COBECOS kick off meeting, 22-23 February 2007, Salerno

4. The case study fisheries • Demersal: mullet, cuttlefish, common octopus, horned and musky octopuses, squids, gurnard, sole, spottail mantis squillid, caramote prawn, common Pandora • Deep water: giant red shrimp, blue and red shrimp, European hake, Norway lobster, blue whiting, deepwater rose shrimp, squids. • Mixed: all the above species COBECOS kick off meeting, 22-23 February 2007, Salerno

5. The case study management system Measures regulating bottom trawling in GSA 9 are the ones applied at national level. In Italy, the trawling activity is managed trough a combination of input control and technical measures, consisting in: • Input control measures: • fishing activity regulated by a closed license scheme; • seasonal withdrawal of the fishing activity during certain period, generally in the summer months. • technical stop of the fishing activity on Saturday and Sunday. • Technical measures: • minimum distance from the coast; • minimum mesh size; • minimum landing size for some target species. COBECOS kick off meeting, 22-23 February 2007, Salerno

6. Input control measures • Effort control on trawlers is firstly pursued by limiting the number of fishing licenses: the number of licenses for trawling cannot be increased on time. New licenses can be given only if the same number of licenses are withdrawn (together with capacity); • Seasonal withdrawal. It: • is in force continuatively since 1988; • applies both to trawlers and to midwater pelagic nets; • its main aim is to safeguard the juveniles of demersal species during their spawning and recruitment seasons; • each year the period for withdrawal is decided based on the scientific advice for the main target species for both the fishing gears to which it applies; • for GSA 9 and for the all Tyrrhenian trawlers the seasonal withdrawal has been compulsory until 1997, optional in the years 1998-1999, compulsory again in 2000 and 2001 (only in some harbours) and again optional since 2002. COBECOS kick off meeting, 22-23 February 2007, Salerno

7. Technical measures: mesh and distance Since the beginning of 2007, the main reference of the technical measures regulating the trawling fishery in GSA 9 is the EC Reg. no 1967/2006 which amends the EC Reg. no. 2847/93, abrogates the EC Reg. 1626/1994 and establishes new management measures for the sustainable exploitation of fishery resources in the Mediterranean Sea. As far as the trawling nets the above regulation establishes a set of technical rules that can be summarized in: • minimum mesh size: a) until 31.12.2007: >40 mm; b) since 1.7.2008 the mesh can be 40 mm squared or 50 mm rhomboidal. • fishing at distance < 1.5 nautic miles from the coast (until 31.12.2007 trawling net can fish < 1.5 nautic miles but not < 50 m isobath). COBECOS kick off meeting, 22-23 February 2007, Salerno

8. Technical measures: landings size • The EC Reg. no 1967/2006 also establishes the minimum size (and the way to measure it) of species landed (see Annex III of the above regulation). • A number of species listed in the Annex III represent target species of the bottom trawling fishery in GSA 9. COBECOS kick off meeting, 22-23 February 2007, Salerno

9. Technical measures: derogation and prorogation Derogation: rules on minimum distance do not apply if specific conditions are verified (i.e. limited extension of the overall coastal platform or limited extension of the trawling areas). Prorogation: rules on minimum mesh size and minimum distance do not apply until May 2010. In order to apply for prorogation vessels and gears should comply with the national legislation in force at 1 January 1994. Current rules: national legislation (DPR no. 1639/68) that establishes, for trawling nets: • a minimum mesh size of 40 mm; • a minimum depth not < 50 m within the 3 nautical miles zone. COBECOS kick off meeting, 22-23 February 2007, Salerno

10. The case study enforcement system • The main body responsible for the control on the fishery sector is the “Guardia Costiera” . • Other military corps (Carabinieri, Guardi di Finanza, Polizia, etc..) have a subsidiary responsibility in the fishery control. • Even if the coordination among all these corps is ruled by law, in practice it is not very effective: the flow of data on inspections, infringements and sanctions among them is not systematic. • Five methods of inspections are applied to the Italian fishery sector: at sea (on board), flight inspections, on land and at the selling places (markets and restaurants). • The inspection reports do not describe in very detail the type of elementary control made. • A national databank containing all the inspection reports does not exist. • Hence, the collection of enforcement data (concerning the enforcement intensity and the associated costs destined to each single measure) for the Italian case study will be a very hard and not always possible task. COBECOS kick off meeting, 22-23 February 2007, Salerno

11. Thanks for the attention! Loretta Malvarosa IREPA Onlus malvarosa@irepa.org COBECOS kick off meeting, 22-23 February 2007, Salerno