Fisheries and Resources Monitoring System

EspañolFrançais
Spain Bottom wet fish trawler black hake fishery - Moroccan Atlantic coast waters, South 29°N
Fishery  Fact Sheet
CECAF Fisheries Reports 2011
Spain Bottom wet fish trawler black hake fishery - Moroccan Atlantic coast waters, South 29°N
Fact Sheet Citation  
Chalutiers espagnols de pêche fraîche de merlus noir
Owned byFood and Agriculture Organization (FAO) – more>>
Fishery life cycleThis fishery started in 2007 and terminated on 2011.

more>>
<<less
Overview: Nowadays, Spanish hake fishery in Moroccan waters targets the two species of black hakes (Merluccius polli and M. senegalensis), allowed by the last Fishery Agreement between the EU and the Kingdom of Morocco signed in May, 2006. This fishery is included into the category “Demersal fishery” of this Agreement, which also includes licences for longlines and multifilament gillnets. Until the moment, only bottom trawl licences have been used. Although the Agreement provides 11 licences for bottom trawls, only two licences have been used, with two vessels operating in 2007 and only one in 2008 and 2009. Cádiz (S Iberian Peninsula) is the landing Port of these trawlers, which has a wide tradition in black hake commercialization. Black hake constituted 93% and 95% of total landings of these vessels in 2007 and 2008, respectively. The licensed bottom trawlers are obligated to land 50% of their catches in Morocco. During the period 2007-2009, landings were made at the Moroccan Port of Dakhla, being transported by lorries from Morocco to the Spanish Port of Cádiz.

Location of Spain Bottom wet fish trawler black hake fishery - Moroccan Atlantic coast waters, South 29°N
 

Geographic reference:  Spain
Spatial Scale: National
Reference year: 2011
Approach: Fishing Activity

Fishing Activity
Fishing Gear: Single boat bottom otter trawls
Type of production system: Commercial; Industrial
Fishery Area: Morocco Atlantic coast - South Zone (B and C); Morocco; Atlantic, East …; Atlantic, East …; Atlantic, East …

Seasonality: From December …

Harvested Resource
Target Species: Senegalese hake; Benguela hake
Associated Species: Sebastidae; Scorpionfishes, redfishes nei; Shortspine African angler …  
more>>


Means of Production
Vessel Type: Stern trawlers
Fishery Indicators
Nominal Effort: Number of vessels
Production: Catch total; Catch black hakes; Catch total; Catch black hakes

Fishing Activity
Type of production system: Commercial; Industrial   

Fishery Area
Climatic zone: Temperate.   Depth zone: Slope (200 m - 1000 m).   Horizontal distribution: Neritic.   Vertical distribution: Demersal/Benthic.  

Geo References for: Morocco Atlantic coast - South Zone (B and C)

The Moroccan Atlantic coast is part of one of the four major trade-wind driven continental margin upwelling zones in the world oceans, the northwestern African upwelling system (or the Canary Current System). In the Eastern Central Atlantic, the dynamics of an eastern boundary current interacting with trade wind-driven upwelling control this marine ecosystem with exceptionally high primary and secondary productivity (Cury and Roy, 1989; Binet, 1997; Demarcq and Faure, 2000). While coastal upwelling occurs mostly on the shelf, biogenic particles derived from upwelling are deposited mostly at the upper continental slope. Nutrient-rich coastal water is transported within the Cape Ghir filament region at 30°N up to several hundreds of kilometres offshore. Both upwelling intensity and filament activity are dependent on the strength of the summer Trades (Freudenthal et al., 2002).
Resources Exploited
Senegal hake, Benguela hake - Morocco
European hake - Morocco
Seabreams - Northwest Africa
West African geryon - Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia
Other resources: Stocks of scorpionfishes, anglers, rays, dogfish sharks and Jhon dory.
Related Fisheries - Same fishing activity(ies) described by another national perspective (at the same or different aggregation level)
Morocco Morocco Spanish bottom trawler black hake fishery - South 29°N
Vessel Type
Stern trawlers
Flag State
Spain

The average characteristics of the vessels operating in the period 2007-2009 were 170 GRT, 495 h.p. and 33 m length.


Catch Handling and Processing Equipment
Hakes are classified by commercial categories, depending on their sizes, being the largest eviscerated. Catches are preserved in ice.
Crew
16-17 persons (Spanish and Moroccan nationalities) (2009)
Fleet segment
The last Fishing Agreement EU-Morocco, signed in 2006, allows this fishery under the category of “Demersal fishery”. However, only two vessels have operated with the EU licences provided into the framework of this agreement (two vessels in 2007 but only one during 2008 and 2009). They are fishing trawlers based in the Port of Vigo (Galicia) and Las Palmas (Canary Islands).
Fishing Gear
Single boat bottom otter trawls

The gear employed is the classic bottom otter trawl. This gear operates with polyvalent trawl doors. The net is constructed in conventional polyethylene, with thread thickness of 3-4 mm, being very elastic and resistant to abrasion. The net is 80 mm mesh size, excepting the cod-end, which is 70 mm and rhombic-shape.


Seasonality
From December to September
Trip Duration
6-10 fishing days
Ports
Vigo (NW Iberian Peninsula) and Las Palmas (Canary Islands)
Fishery Indicators
TypeMeasureValueUnitTime period
Nominal EffortNumber of vessels 2vessels2007
Number of vessels 1vessels2008
Number of vessels 1vessels2009
ProductionCatch total183tonnes2007
Catch black hakes170tonnes2007
Catch total488tonnes2008
Catch black hakes462tonnes2008
Post Harvest
 
Fish Utilisation
Local consumption and wholesale
Markets
Cádiz (S Iberian Peninsula)
Management
Management unit: No

Jurisdictional framework
Management Body/Authority(ies): Ministère de l'Agriculture et de la Pêche Maritime. Département de la Pêche Maritime
Mandate: Monitoring; Management.  
Area under national jurisdiction: Morocco
Maritime Area: Exclusive Economic Zone Areas (EEZ).  
Management Body/Authority(ies): European Union
Mandate: Flag state responsibility for its fishing vessels operating in foreign area under national jurisdiction.  
Area under national jurisdiction: Morocco
Maritime Area: Exclusive Economic Zone Areas (EEZ).  
Legal definition
Demersal fishing
Management Regime
Management measures are included in the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Kingdom of Morocco signed in 2006. This fishery is included into fishing category “Demersal fishing” of this Agreement.
Management Methods

CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT MEASURES with focus on Effort control- Licences system

  • Aquatic species-related measures
    Authorized by-catch: 0% of cephalopods and crustaceans, with the exception of crab (5 %)
  • Gear-related measures, Vessel-related measures
    Gear type (doubling of the cod-end prohibited and doubling of the twine forming the cod-end prohibited) and mesh size (minimum mesh size of 70 mm).Access control: vessel size (maximum average size of 275 GT)
  • Fishing activity-related measures
    Licences, Vessel number (maximum 11 trawlers/year with an average size of 275 GT), closed area (North of 29ºN and in depths shallower than 200 m) and closed season (during the recovery period fixed for cephalopods, being October-November in 2007 and 2008).
Related Fisheries - Fishing activity(ies) managed under the same management unit or being ruled by the same fishing agreement
Spain Small scale purse seine anchovy fishery - Moroccan Atlantic coast waters, North zone
Status and Trends
 
The fishery has experienced a very slight development, with only 1-2 vessels operating since its beginning in 2007.
Source of Information
 
Cervantes, A., I. Sobrino, A. Ramos and L. Fernández, 1992. Descripción y análisis de los datos de las pesquerías de merluza y gamba de la flota española que faenó al fresco en África Noroccidental durante el período 1983-1988. Informe Técnico Instituto Español de Oceanografía 111, 85 pp. Madrid, España.
Cervantes, A. and R.Goñi, R. 1985. Descripción de las pesquerías españolas de merluzas y crustáceos de África Occidental al norte de Cabo Blanco. En: C. Bas, R. Margalef y P. Rubiés (Eds.). Simposio Internacional sobre las áreas de afloramiento más importantes del Oeste africano (Cabo Blanco y Benguela). II, 825-850. Instituto de Investigaciones Pesqueras. Barcelona, España.
Cury, P. and C. Roy, 1989. Optimal environmental window and pelagic fish recruitment success in upwelling areas. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 46, 670–680.
Binet, D., 1997. Climate and pelagic fisheries in the Canary and Guinea currents 1964–1993: the role of trade winds and the southern oscillation. Ocean. Acta 20, 177–190.
Demarcq, H. and V. Faure, 2000. Coastal upwelling and associated retention indices derived from satellite SST. Application to Octopus vulgaris recruitment. Ocean. Acta 23, 391–408.
Freudenthal, T, H. Meggers, J. Henderiks, H. Kuhlmann, A. Moreno, G. Wefer, 2002. Upwelling intensity and filament activity off Morocco during the last 250°000 years. Deep Sea Res. (II Top. Stud. Oceanogr.) 49, 17: 3655-3674.
Meiners, C. 2007. Importancia de la variabilidad climática en las pesquerías y biología de la merluza europea Merluccius merluccius (Linnaeus, 1758) de la costa Noroccidental Africana. Tesis Doctoral, 187 pp. IEO-Univ. Politecnica de Cataluña.
Meiners, C, L. Fernández, A. Faraj and R. García-Cancela, 2010. Length-weight relationships of 12 deep-sea teleost fish species from the NW African slope. Journal of Applied Ichthyology , in press.
Meiners, C., L. Fernández, F. Salmerón and C. Hernández, C. 2010. Some biological parameters of deep-sea shark species from NW Africa. Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria (In press).
Meiners, C., L. Fernández, F. Salmerón and A. Ramos, 2010. Climate variability and fisheries of black hakes (M. polli and M. senegalensis) in NW Africa: a first approach. Monográfico de Elsevier-Journal of Marine System, 80: 243-247.
Official Journal of the European Union, 2006. Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Communities and the Kingdom of Morocco. OJ L 141, 29.5.2006, p. 1–37.
Ramos, A. and L. Fernández. 1994. Las pesquerías de merluzas en los caladeros de África noroccidental: Datos de base del año 1991. Inf. Téc. Inst. Esp. Oceanogr., 153, 132 pp.
Ramos, A. and L. Fernández. 1995. Biology and fisheries of North-west African hakes (M. merluccius, M. senegalensis and M. polli). In: J. Alheit and T. Pitcher (eds.). Hake: Biology, fisheries and markets Series 15: 89-124. Chapman & Hall, London, Reino Unido.
Ramos, A., R. González, T. García, I. Sobrino y L. Fernández., 2000. La crisis en el acceso al caladero marroquí: análisis de la evolución y situación de las pesquerías y recursos de merluzas y crustáceos. Inf. Téc. Inst. Esp. Oceanogr., 178: 171 pp.
powered by FIGIS  © FAO, 2024
Powered by FIGIS
crawl