The technique used in the LIFE ECOREST project for restoring deep marine habitats in Catalonia has begun to be applied in Cadiz waters thanks to the collaboration of various non-profit organisations, research bodies and the fishing sector.
Specifically, the Artisanal Fish Producers’ Organisation Lonja de Conil OPP 72, together with the Society for the Development of Coastal Communities (SOLDECOCOS) and WWF Spain, has developed a programme that uses the methodology of the LIFE ECOREST project to increase the survival of corals, gorgonians, sponges, and other organisms caught in fishermen’s nets.
Manuela Sanchez Senior Patron and President of OPP72
The director of Soldecocos, Jorge Sáez, highlights the involvement of the fishermen of OPP 72, a fleet of 39 small-scale fishing boats. When they bycatch an organism, they send the coordinates and take the specimens trapped in their nets to a survival and restoration centre. This is La Casa de los Ramos y las Santamarías, named after the corals and gorgonians in the area.
Jorge Sáez, director of Soldecocos
This centre, consisting of a closed-circuit tank with seawater, is currently financed through the OPP72 Production and Marketing Plan thanks to the FEMPA funds managed by the Andalusian Regional Government.
Once the organisms have been recovered, they are prepared to be returned to the sea by anchoring them to a boulder. The weight provides stability and allows them to fall upright. This method, known as Badminton, has been devised by the Institut de Ciències del Mar ICM-CSIC, which coordinates the LIFE ECOREST project.
BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT
The rescued organisms remained in the recovery centre for 83 days. After this time, 47 specimens were returned to the sea in the Western Straits Site of Community Interest (SCI), a protected marine area that belongs to the Natura 2000 Network and has also been declared a Special Protection Area for Birds (SPA). Specifically, on December 20, the organisms were reintroduced in the Piedra que Revienta, a headland in front of the port of Cabo Roche.
This area, between the Bay of Algeciras and the Bay of Cadiz, is a biodiversity hotspot where the Mediterranean and Atlantic waters converge. The area is home to marine habitats of Community interest, such as the 1170 Reefs habitat, of which more than 70 species have been recorded, with a great diversity of corals and gorgonians.
Thanks to the scientific information collected in the Gades project: Protection and Governance of the Cabo Roche Sea (Cabo de Trafalgar—Islote de Sancti Petri), hotspots were identified to prioritise conservation actions. In addition, it was determined that five of the 10 species with the most significant presence in the coral reef have some form of protection, and 12 of the 70 species censused have some level of threat.
Among the most widely distributed species are orange corals, as well Lithophyllum incrustans (encrusting red algae); the astroid anthozoans Calycularis sp, Eunicella labiata, Eunicella gazella y Leptogorgia sarmentosa; the annelid Filograna implexa, the sponge Axinella damicornis, the bryozoan Pentapora fascialis and the ascidians Polycitor adriaticum and Synoicum sp.
The Gades project, developed between 2028 and 2019, was the origin of this restoration programme being implemented in this area, explains Jorge Sáez. This initiative, led by WWF Spain together with Soldecocos and OPP72, in collaboration with the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC) in Cadiz and with the support of the Pleamar Programme co-financed by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, promoted various governance actions with the scientific community, non-profit organisations and the fishing sector.
The Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC) in Cadiz and the Andalusian Institute of Marine Sciences (ICMAN-CSIC) are currently collaborating on this restoration programme.
In addition, the exchange of experiences with the ICM-CSIC, WWF Spain and the guilds participating in the LIFE ECOREST project will continue.
LIFE ECOREST PROJECT
LIFE ECOREST is moving forward with the objective of restoring nearly 30,000 hectares of deep-sea habitats in Catalonia with the active participation of the fishing sector.
In addition to research and conservation actions, it promotes the participatory management of the fishermen involved in the project, strengthens governance mechanisms, and raises public awareness of the importance of conserving deep-sea habitats.
This initiative, coordinated by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) until 2026, has as partners the Federació Territorial de Confraries de Pescadors de Girona, the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, the University of Barcelona and WWF Spain, as well as the financial contribution of the European Union’s LIFE Programme. Collaborating in the project are the fishermen’s associations of Llançà, Port de la Selva, Cadaqués, Roses, Palamós, Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Blanes, Arenys de Mar and Vilanova i la Geltrú.