Acronym: ELIFE
Keywords: #fisheries, #elasmobranch, #conservation, #management
Low-impact pelagic longlines armed with circular hooks: A valid alternative to traditional fishing gear with J-hooks in terms of catching target species.
Coordinator/Lead Partner: Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn - National Institute of Marine Biology, Ecology and Biotechnologies, Italy
Principal Investigator(s): Massimiliano Bottaro
Partnership: CNR-IRBIM, MPA Pelagie Islands, MPA Tavolara Island, University of Padua, Costa Edutainment Spa, Legambiente Onlus, MER Marine Research Ltd., Consorzio Mediterraneo, AlgoWatt SpA
Funding body and amount: European Commission
Overall funding: 2,016,267 €
Funding to SZN: 642,861 €
Grant period: October 2019 - September 2024 (probably extended to Sep. 2025, due to COVID-19 pandemic)
Project in a nutshell:
Since the mid-1980s, chondrichthyans are under growing fishing pressure. In the Mediterranean Sea, overfishing is mainly due to a continuing by-catch generally occurring in fisheries targeting other commercial stocks, mainly coastal fisheries using demersal trawls and bottom-set gillnets. The project ELIFE aims at improving the conservation of elasmobranch species promoting best conservation practices in the context of the EU professional fishing, in the Mediterranean Sea, carrying out pilot and demonstrative actions in many Italian harbours. In particular, circular fishing hooks will be used in longline fishing, and exclusion grids in trawling. A database will also be created to increase knowledge about these animals. The whole project will be carried out thanks to the close collaboration with the fishermen who will be the protagonists of the field experimentation activities. A national communication and awareness campaign will induce sustainable behavior in the people.
Contacts: massimiliano.bottaro(at)szn.it
To know more: www.elifeproject.eu