The fishers participating in the LIFE ECOREST project, coordinated by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), have begun the process of returning corals, gorgonians and sponges to the sea, among other sessile organisms that, after being rescued from fishing nets, have been recovered in aquariums installed in fishers’ cooperatives in Girona and Vilanova i la Geltrú (Barcelona). The first returns have taken place in Blanes and Llançà.
These organisms are returned to the sea in the permanently closed areas where the project operates using the Badminton method, which consist in fixing organisms to a cobble and gently tossing them from deck. This technique allows organisms to reach the seafloor and remain in an upright position, optimal for their survival.
To date, this methodology has been used in previous oceanographic campaigns carried out by the ICM-CSIC and the University of Barcelona (UB) within the framework of the project, in which a total of 451 organisms have been released in four closed areas at a depth of between 90 and 140 metres.
During these campaigns, a pioneering bio-releaser (BiLi) designed to adapt the Badminton method to great depths and to be able to release a greater number of individuals at the same time has been used. The gorgonians Eunicella cavolini, Eunicella singularis affita and Leptogorgia sarmentosa, bryozoans; the soft coral Alcyonium palmatum, as well as different species of demosponges, have been the main organisms returned during the oceanographic campaigns.
Thanks to the images obtained by means of a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV), it has been possible to verify the successful survival rate of the restored gorgonians, which reaches 95% a year after the first return.
After the success of the oceanographic campaigns, a new stage in the project has begun, in which the return of organisms is carried out from the fishing boats. Blanes and Llançà were the first fisher’s cooperatives to return to the sea the organisms that were accidentally entangled in fishing nets and were transferred to the aquariums installed in their fisher’s associations, where they have been maintained and recovered thanks to the coordinated work of the ICM-CSIC scientific team, the UB and the fisher’s associations participating in the project.
This joint work has made it possible to rescue more than 750 organisms from fishing nets and recover them in the aquariums so far.
LIFE ECOREST
LIFE ECOREST project aims to improve the conservation status of deep-sea habitats and demonstrate the effectiveness of participatory management involving the fishing sector.
This initiative, coordinated by the ICM-CSIC, counts on partners such as Federació Territorial de Confraries de Pescadors de Girona, Fundación Biodiversidad del Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico, Universitat de Barcelona, and WWF España, as well as the financial contribution from the European Union’s LIFE Programme.