‘Our sea deserves a future’: The fishermen battling to avoid wasting uncommon corals on the Costa Brava from local weather change | EUROtoday
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On a strip of calm blue water within the Costa Brava, a fisherman pulls a fluorescent orange stick from the ocean.
We are in a ship within the waters off of Llança, a city close to the Spanish-French border that heaves with British vacationers in the summertime months.
But removed from the posh resorts and eating places, fishermen and marine biologists are battling to avoid wasting corals, sponges and different creatures from the harm brought on by local weather change, air pollution and overfishing.
Rising temperatures within the sea brought on by local weather change are decimating the coral, sponge and different marine creatures which stay 50 metres beneath the floor, the place the mercury can attain 25C. Pollution brought on by clumps of moist wipes or different plastics has additionally amassed in giant numbers in some areas.
Overfishing has had a dramatic impact on complicated habitats and a few species equivalent to the valuable purple coral, which is usually used for jewelry, has largely disappeared from the western Mediterranean.
In a bid to struggle again, fishermen on the Costa Brava are saving any corals which come up of their nets as a part of a brand new scheme began in 2022 with the assistance of marine biologists.
“If I want the sea to have any future, it makes sense to put something back, like these corals,” says Franc Ontiveros, a lifelong fisherman who takes half within the mission.
“Poor management of fishing stocks has been a problem but if I can do something to help then I would like to. I am not sure fishing has a future but at least if I do this, I will be trying to do something about it.”
Mr Ontiveros, 50, fishes for monkfish, mullet and hake however can haul tens of corals each day that he goes to sea. Once they’re plucked from the water, they’re put in a bucket earlier than being handed over to marine biologists. They are then saved in particular aquariums, the place they’re assessed to see if they are going to survive.
The fortunate ones are returned to the seas alongside the Catalan coast in particular ‘no take’ zones, the place authorities observe the actions of boats to ensure they don’t fish.
Mr Ontiveros’ boat, which relies in Palamos, a Catalan fishing city well-known for its prawns, is one in all about 48 alongside this stretch of Spanish shoreline which have joined this effort to guard threatened species.
The haul of corals relies on the kind of fishing, boats and habitat. Those that exit for purple shrimps catch only a few, however fishermen who trawl for fish on sea shelfs have a big haul.
Jordi Grinyó Andreu, a researcher on the Institute of Sea Sciences in Barcelona and an skilled in seafloor ecology, has been engaged on the €3.6 million (£3.15 million) mission because it began in 2022. It is partly funded by the European Union, with the remainder of the funds coming from the Spanish authorities.
“These creatures are being decimated by climate change and the destruction of their natural habitats,” he says. “We have encouraged the fishermen to take part. As one said: ‘If I want my son to be a fisherman one day, I have to act now’.”
Mr Grinyó is passionate concerning the orange, pink and black corals which he helps save with the fishermen.
“The coral populations in the Mediterranean have been under high threat. Some populations are stable, others are declining and some are critically endangered, like red coral and Isidella bamboo corals,” he provides.
Sadly, the destiny of corals and sponges within the Western Mediterranean just isn’t an remoted one. Mr Grinyó says that seafloor ecosystems world wide face the identical daunting future.
But researchers hope the information gained from the scheme will assist save these lovely seafloor dwellers in different elements of the ocean. New initiatives are anticipated to begin within the Balearic Islands, close to Cadiz and in Sicily.
Mr Grinyó says the cooperation between fishermen and marine biologists has given him hope for the longer term.
“This project shows that once fishermen and scientists work together, we can achieve great goals towards preserving marine ecosystems.
“In this sense, fishermen are a key component of the success of this project and they are working towards achieving a more sustainable form of fishing. Eventually the whole of society will benefit.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/spain-costa-brava-corals-fishermen-b2886077.html