Matthew Laspina , Kimberly Terribile and Alicia Said
Cetacean depredation poses threats to both the socioeconomic viability of fisheries as well as species conservation. This study is based in the Maltese Islands where the fishing sector has always been one of a smallscale nature with 93% of the vessels being less than 12 meters in length. Maltese fishers engage in small-scale fishing utilizing a variety of artisanal fishing gear including surface long lines, which are mainly used to target swordfish and tuna and bottom-long lines; trammel nets and entangling nets which are used to target groupers, various species of bream, red snappers and red porgies; and pots and traps which are generally used to captured octopus and bogue. This study, which aimed to analyze fishers’ perception with respect to interaction occurrence between small-scale fisheries and cetaceans in Maltese waters, found that fishers claim that dolphin presence has increased in the past five years, particularly in the vicinity of Bluefin tuna, sea bream and sea bass fish farms locations. While the use of trammel nets remains by far the most popular gear type employed by Maltese fishers, this study showed that around 33% of the fishing gear deployed in the past year suffered damages which account to an average of €178.33 in damages per fisher, annually. It is therefore essential that proper monitoring is carried out in order to assess the factors that drive the interactions and the impact of dolphin depredation on the fishing sector.
New prevention and mitigation measures are proposed in order to try and reduce the risk of depredation by cetaceans in Maltese waters. This study provided first-hand insights which will aid in the execution of local fisheries management plans and subsequently, ecosystem-based fisheries management.
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