CEMMA launches the VIRADA project, with the participation as a partner of the Organization of Fresh Fisheries Producers of the Port of Vigo-OPPF-4, and with the collaboration of the Biodiversity Foundation, the Ministry for Ecological Transition, through the Pleamar program, co-financed by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund-EMFF.

The project has a total budget of 85.021,60 €, and obtained the highest assessment in the resolution of the Pleamar 2019 Call, occupying the first position of a total of 87 projects submitted. It is integrated into the LIFE IP INTEMARES, the largest marine fauna conservation project that is currently being developed in Europe.

The main objective of the VIRADA project is to contribute to the protection of marine biodiversity and the sustainability of fisheries by reducing the by-catch of cetaceans, in collaboration with the fisheries sector.

The following are secondary objectives:

1) Know the cetacean-fishing interaction and the fishing effort that is applied in the Natura 2000 areas of the Rías Baixas, as a first measure to be able to evaluate the negative effects (by-catches) of the fishing activity on the marine environment.

2) Evaluate the magnitude of the impact of the by-catch mortality in fishing gear on the population of harbour porpoise and bottlenose dolphin in Natura 2000 areas of the Rías Baixas.

3) Enhance knowledge of the population status of the harbour porpoise and the bottlenose dolphin in the main fishing areas of the Natura 2000 areas of the Rías Baixas.

VIRADA arises from the great need that exists to try to reduce one of the biggest conservation problems that cetaceans present worldwide: their by-catch mortality in fishing gear.

The data collected by CEMMA on the coast of Galicia over the last 30 years, are devastating: every year an average of 285 cetaceans are stranded, half of which presents evidence compatible with a diagnosis by-catch death in fishing gears.

The impact of this mortality is especially worrying when we consider two of the most species of cetaceans with a greater protection status in Galician waters: the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), classified as "Vulnerable" in the Spanish Catalog of Endangered Species and included in Annex II of the Habitats Directive. For this reason, they are the two target species within the VIRADA project.

In the case of the harbour porpoise, a species considered extinct in the Mediterranean, and which presents its latest iberian population in the waters of the NW of the Iberian Peninsula, the latest studies on its population dynamics indicate that it will no longer be present in these waters in less than 20 years. We are facing a case of disappearance similar to that of the vaquita (Phocoena simus) in the Gulf of Mexico.

It should also be noted that the harbour porpoises that are present in Galician waters belong to the ecotype meridionalis, and have their own genetic identity. They also constitute a Management Unit within the Noratlantic Marine Demarcation, which according to the results of different technical reports, is not in a situation of Good Environmental Status. It is established that one of the Environmental Objectives for this Management Unit must be to reduce its by-catch mortality in fishing gears.

It is important to note that VIRADA is also directed towards the fishing sector, which has an enormous importance, both economically and socially, in Galicia. This project aims to contribute to the fishing activity being environmentally sustainable, and compatible with the preservation of biodiversity and the marine environment.

The project will be developed throughout 2020, and the study area will be the Rías Baixas, based on the fishing ports of Baiona, Vigo, Cangas, Bueu and O Grove, along with the following 7 marine spaces belonging to Natura 2000:

ZEC Illas Estelas(ES1140012), ZEC Illas Cíes (ES0000001), ZEC Costa da Vela (ES1140010), ZEC Cabo Udra (ES1140009), ZEC Ons-O Grove (ES1140004),

ZEC Complexo húmido de Corrubedo (ES1110006), ZEPA Rías Baixas (ES0000499)

The actions and activities that will be carried out within the VIRADA project are the following.

A1. Collection of basic information on the fishing activity of the gillnet fleet in N2000 areas of the Rías Baixas.

Within this activity, shipments will be made aboard fishing vessels of the gillnet fleet based in the ports of Baiona, Vigo, Cangas, Bueu and O Grove. In addition, this action will be completed by conducting interviews with the fishing sector in the Cabo Silleiro – Cabo Corrubedo area

A2. Impact assessment: Marking-recapture study of the bodies of cetaceans by-caught in fishing gears in N2000 areas of the Rías Baixas.

Labels will be used to mark the bodies of by-catches cetaceans, and a recapture will be made, by the Galician Strandings Network, of the tagged corpses that have stranded on the coast.

An analysis will also be carried out to evaluate the possibilities of applying a computer tool for the collection of data on accidental catches and sightings of cetaceans from the fishing sector.

A3. Maritime survey for population monitoring of cetaceans in N2000 areas of the Rías Baixas, with volunteer participation.

An 8-day cetacean population monitoring campaign will be carried out on board a sailboat, with the participation of 10 people as environmental volunteers. Prior to the campaign, the volunteer will receive the necessary technical training.

A4. Dissemination, divulgation and awareness of the sustainability of fisheries and the need to reduce by-catches.

Within this action, the edition and distribution of a "Guide of good practices for the fishing sector: actions in case of by-catch" is planned. A sensitization video will also be made, dissemination materials will be edited and a presentation of results will be held.

The main values of the VIRADA project are that it is conceived having a deep knowledge of the existence of cetacean-fishing interactions in Galicia, and that it is planned to be executed in collaboration with the fishing sector itself.

Its potential is that it intends to establish a solid knowledge base on which new complementary projects can be developed in the future.

DOWNLOAD RESULTS

In these links you can download the "Guide of good practices for the fishing sector: actions in case of by-catch".

Guide of good practices - pdf Low resolution (2 Mb)

Guide of good practices - pdf High resolution (122 Mb)