Apr
17
Good octopus good status ratified in Mauritania
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The head of the Marine and Rural Affairs Department, Rosa Quintana, with the Fisheries secretary, Carlos Domínguez. (Photo: Magrama)
Good octopus good status ratified in Mauritania
EUROPEAN UNION
Wednesday, April 17, 2013, 23:30 (GMT + 9)
The Scientific Committee of the European Union (EU) agrees with the opinion of the Xunta de Galicia about the good status of the octopus in fishing grounds in Mauritiania.
The head of the Department of Rural and marine Affairs of the Xunta de Galicia, Rosa Quintana, met in Madrid with the Secretary General of Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Magrama), Carlos Dominguez, to learn about the opinion of the EU Scientific Committee with respect to the situation of the octopus in Mauritanian waters.
Quintana found out that the Committee affirms the Xunta’s considerations, backed with scientific reports, on the good status of the fishery resource in the fishing ground of the African country. In this sense, it was determined that the cephalopod species is not overfished and that an adaptive management of its stock can be performed.
The Committee confirmed that there has been a steady reduction in the fishing effort of the cephalopod fleet, mainly since 2002, and a significant increase in the catch per effort unit (CPEU) since 1995 and in particular, in 2011 and 2012.
Based on a model advocated by Spanish researchers, the agency adopted and accepted the experimental implementation of the management system of spatial-temporal closures and proposed the design of an operational protocol that facilitates it in the short term, the Xunta reported.
Dominguez explained Quintana that with these results the capture chances at the octopus fishery in Mauritania can be incorporated.
State and regional governments insist that the Mauritanian fishery is a variable ecosystem and that the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) can also be very variable.
Furthermore, it would be convenient to take Mauritanian researchers’ initiative to develop a protocol allowing the implementation of a management system per spatial-temporal closures experimentally.
The Xunta believes that the Committee’s findings will be used to try to correct the terms of the fisheries agreement between the EU and Mauritania.
Galicia, in particular, and Spain, in general, have always defended and worked so that the Committee can meet and assess the octopus status in the Mauritanian fishing grounds, taking into account the studies of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) proving its abundance.
Magrama managed to achieve the inclusion of the assessment of the current state of the Mauritanian and Moroccan fisheries agreements in the Council of Fisheries Ministers.
Related article:
– Reduction in fishing effort on octopus confirmed in Mauritania
By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
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