Trawling activities, such as otter trawling and dredging, have occurred for centuries on large spatial scale and today are considered one of the main and widespread causes of anthropogenic disturbance and habitat alteration. These activities have perturbed marine ecosystems and locally modified the continental shelves, producing strong alterations of ecosystem structure, functioning and resilience. In this context, the Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) suggests a long-term holistic approach to delineate when, where and how marine ecosystems have been perturbed and to delineate future management strategies in order to maintain biodiversity. Recently, satellite-based technologies, such as Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and Automatic Identification System (AIS), are used to investigate the spatio-temporal aggregation and fleet’s dynamics. VMS transmits in time intervals varying of ca. 2 hours while AIS transmissions can be as frequent as every few seconds, enabling the monitoring of fine-scale vessels behaviour and movement patterns. Here we present the distribution of the fishing activity for two dominant fleet segments in the Northern Adriatic Sea: trawl and dredge. In particular, we carried out a finest spatial resolution analysis of the fleet’s dynamics taking advantage from the integration of VMS with AIS data. This work has permitted to analyse and investigate temporal and spatial aggregation patterns and fleet’s dynamics, allowing to highlight areas at different levels of fishing intensity. In the next future, these results will permit to test the effectiveness of fisheries management measures and to suggest possible implementation of new ones, in order to achieve a sustainable fishery. Indeed, the possibility to delineate the distribution of anthropogenic disturbance, through high spatial resolution data, represents a useful tool for conservation and management strategies.

INTEGRATING VMS AND AIS DATA TO MAP HIGH RESOLUTION SPATIAL FISHING EFFORT IN THE NORTHERN ADRIATIC SEA

Elisabetta Russo;Marco Anelli Monti;Claudio Silvestri;Fabio Pranovi
2017-01-01

Abstract

Trawling activities, such as otter trawling and dredging, have occurred for centuries on large spatial scale and today are considered one of the main and widespread causes of anthropogenic disturbance and habitat alteration. These activities have perturbed marine ecosystems and locally modified the continental shelves, producing strong alterations of ecosystem structure, functioning and resilience. In this context, the Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) suggests a long-term holistic approach to delineate when, where and how marine ecosystems have been perturbed and to delineate future management strategies in order to maintain biodiversity. Recently, satellite-based technologies, such as Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and Automatic Identification System (AIS), are used to investigate the spatio-temporal aggregation and fleet’s dynamics. VMS transmits in time intervals varying of ca. 2 hours while AIS transmissions can be as frequent as every few seconds, enabling the monitoring of fine-scale vessels behaviour and movement patterns. Here we present the distribution of the fishing activity for two dominant fleet segments in the Northern Adriatic Sea: trawl and dredge. In particular, we carried out a finest spatial resolution analysis of the fleet’s dynamics taking advantage from the integration of VMS with AIS data. This work has permitted to analyse and investigate temporal and spatial aggregation patterns and fleet’s dynamics, allowing to highlight areas at different levels of fishing intensity. In the next future, these results will permit to test the effectiveness of fisheries management measures and to suggest possible implementation of new ones, in order to achieve a sustainable fishery. Indeed, the possibility to delineate the distribution of anthropogenic disturbance, through high spatial resolution data, represents a useful tool for conservation and management strategies.
2017
52nd European Marine Biology Symposium · EMBS 2017
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in ARCA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10278/3719636
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact