COPEMED - Artisanal fishery communities in the Mediterranean: two case studies
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Artisanal fishery in the Mediterranean region is a very attractive and interesting tradition. Because of its unpredictable operational pattern and its constant adaptation to internal and external phenomena it is difficult to really assess its status over time. The need to improve our knowledge of artisanal fishery and how it is conducted in the Mediterranean has been highlighted on many occasions and, in a way, still remains an ongoing issue. The FAO-COPEMED Project took up the opportu nity to initiate a sub-regional project activity to assess the situation of artisanal fisheries in the eight countries involved in the project (Algeria, France, Italy, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia) in order to contribute regionally to an issue which, to our knowledge, is usually treated in a very superficial way and only at national level. The present work illustrates two case studies dealing with small scale fisheries systems in two different and significant areas of the M editerranean sea: the area of Cilento in Italy and Nador Lagoon in Morocco. Even though the offshore industrial or semi-industrial fisheries are the most productive, smallscale coastal fisheries have a much greater social and cultural significance. Mediterranean artisanal fishing is a very variable activity. It encompasses many types of fishing gears and methods. Its resources, shared among various parties, move from one region to another, and the size of the fish catch varies from c ountry to country, as does its economical value. Catches are highly multi-specific and fishing intensities and strategies show very rapid fluctuations in space and over time. The variation of active fishermen and boats by area, sometimes over very short periods of time, is also a significant characteristic of the artisanal fishery sector.