Chioggia, Italy. On the 20th of August 2012, GAP2 scientists began the first fishery-independent trawl survey conducted in the Northern Adriatic Sea.
What Happened
The survey lasted three days at sea (20th -22nd August 2012) with the bottom trawlers “Drago” and “Perla Nera” sampling from an area extending over 59 nautical miles between the Po delta in the south and the Grado-Marano lagoon in the north.
Samples were taken from 21 sites jointly decided upon by fishermen and scientists, between 4 and 18 nautical miles from the coast; an area that represents the Veneto Region Administrative marine waters.
This survey represents a fundamental step forward for the Italian case study. It was conducted at the end of the area’s summer ban on trawling, allowing an evaluation of the status of marine resources immediately after the ban, and results were presented to fishermen on Saturday 25 of August, just a few days before they started fishing again.
Sampling will now be performed seasonally to monitor and describe demersal fish and shellfish, together with fish habitats and biocenosis, spatial and temporal distribution in the area. In addition to commercial species, bycatch and discards will be collected and analysed during each survey. Information will be made available to fishers and fishery managers, and will facilitate the enforcement of spatially explicit management in the framework of an ecosystem approach.
