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Spain Longliners black hake fishery - Mauritanian waters
Fishery  Fact Sheet
CECAF Fisheries Reports 2013
Spain Longliners black hake fishery - Mauritanian waters
Fact Sheet Citation  
Palangriers Espagnols de pêche fraîche au merlu noir
Owned byFood and Agriculture Organization (FAO) – more>>
Fishery life cycle
The fishing agreement is expired in 2012 but the licences have been extended up to date.

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Overview: The fleet is composed of vessels from Galicia (NW Iberian Peninsula), mainly from Santa Eugenia de Riveira, and some units from Vigo and La Coruña. Fewer vessels have their main port in Las Palmas (Canary Islands) and Ceuta (N Africa). Currently, the vessels belonging to this fleet are mainly based in Santa Eugenia de Riveira (Galicia), in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands) and in Algeciras (Andalucia, S Iberian Peninsula). These are vessels that used to operate in the Moroccan fishing grounds. This is a very selective fishery that targets black hakes (M. polli and M. senegalensis), although their proportion in landings is less than the one registered for the bottom trawl fishery. The fishery also targets the Atlantic pomfret Brama brama, which is either intensively fished the last days of the fishing trip or fished in fishing trips exclusively targeting it. During the last two years of the fishery, it exclusively has targeted B. brama, with low catches of black hakes. The fishing area is located North of latitude 19°15,6’ N (Cape Timiris), west of the line joining a series of points defined by the Fishing Agreement; South of Cape Timiris as far as latitude 17°50,0’ N (Nouackchott) west of the 18-mile line; and South of Nouackchott, west of the 12-mile line. During the closed seasons for cephalopod fisheries the fishing zone changes as follows: Between Cap Blanc and Cap Timiris, the exclusion zone is defined by the points defined in the Fishing Agreement; South of Cap Timiris (south of latitude 19° 15,6’ N) and up to Nouakchott (17° 50,0’ N), the exclusion zone is the 18-mile line; and South of Nouakchott (south of latitude 17° 50,0’ N), the exclusion zone is the 12-mile line. Fresh fish is landed at the Port of Vigo port once a fortnight using the same methods as trawlers (see MRT12- “Spanish bottom wet fish trawlers black hake fishery in Mauritania”). Hakes are sold eviscerated and classified in two or three commercial categories.

Location of Spain Longliners black hake fishery - Mauritanian waters
 

Geographic reference:  Spain
Spatial Scale: National
Reference year: 2013
Approach: Fishing Activity

Fishing Activity
Fishing Gear: Set longlines
Type of production system: Commercial; Industrial
Fishery Area: Mauritania; Atlantic, East …

Seasonality: All year long

Harvested Resource
Target Species: Senegalese hake; Benguela hake
Associated Species: Atlantic pomfret; Schedophilus nei; Pandoras nei …  
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Means of Production
Vessel Type: Longliners
Fishery Indicators
Nominal Effort: Number of vessels
Participation: Number of fishermen
Production: Catch total; Catch Merluccius spp.; Catch B. brama; Catch Schedophilus spp.; Catch Pagellus spp.; Catch C. conger

History
 
The bottom longline fleet, which mainly operates in the northern area of the Mauritanian fishing grounds, has been intermittent in recent years. This fishery started at the beginning of the ‘90s, when some Galician vessels gradually incorporated to the Mauritanian fishing ground. It was in 1990 when the Fishery Agreement included a GRT for longliners into the modality “Black hake fisheries”. This GRT was increased in the Agreement of 1996, when the modality name changed to “bottom trawl and longline fishery for black hake”.
Fishing Activity
Type of production system: Commercial; Industrial   

Fishery Area
Climatic zone: Temperate.   Bottom type: Soft bottom clean sand; Hard rocky bottom.   Depth zone: Shelf (50 m - 200 m); Slope - Upperslope (200 m - 500 m).   Horizontal distribution: Neritic.   Vertical distribution: Demersal/Benthic.   Sea floor physiography: Canyons.  


Geo References for: Mauritania

Details of geoform: Edge of canyons and wells.The Mauritanian 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). The upwelling off Mauritania is being described as a wind driven upwelling system restricted to a narrow strip along the coast. It can be separated into two regimes: south of approximately 20ºN upwelling is most pronounced during winter and spring, whereas upwelling north of 20ºN occurs all year round with a maximum intensity in summer and early fall (Mittelstaedt, 1991). The marked seasonality of upwellings and the latitudinal displacement through the Mauritanian and Senegalese coasts, produce important changes in the structure of the biological communities. In short periods (weeks), the system can alternate from a warm equatorial phase to a cold subtropical phase, this deriving in an alternated dominance between tropical and templates communities (Meiners, 2007). Off Cape Blanc the upwelling occurs throughout the year with periods of stronger intensity, while it lasts nine months off Nouakchott.
Resources Exploited
Senegal hake, Benguela hake - Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia
Seabreams - Northwest Africa
Other resources: Stocks of atlantic pomfrets, schedophilus, pandoras, scorpionfishes and congers.
Discarded Species (Bycatch)
Mistryophis crosnieri

Decapterus sp. (19%), Scomber japonicus (9%), Trichiurus lepturus (17%), Mistryophis crosnieri (7%), Coloconger cadenati (5%).

Juveniles (commercial species) or unspecified (other species)
Related Fisheries - Same fishing activity(ies) described by another national perspective (at the same or different aggregation level)
Morocco Offshore Spanish gillnetter hake fishery - Atlantic coast
Vessel Type
Longliners
Flag State
Spain

The average characteristics during 2007 were 149 GRT, 296 h.p and 26 m length


Catch Handling and Processing Equipment
Hakes eviscerated and classified in two or three commercial categories. Catches are preserved in ice.
Crew
12-14 persons (Spanish, Mauritanian and Senegalese nationality) (2009)
Fleet segment
Set longlines for demersal fish

These are vessels that used to operate in the Moroccan fishing ground (see MAR19-“Offshore Spanish longliner hake fishery- Morocco Atlantic coast”). Currently, vessels belonging to this fleet are based in Santa Eugenia de Riveira (Galicia, NW Iberian Peninsula), in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands) and in Algeciras (Andalucía, S Iberian Peninsula).
Fishing Gear
Set longlines

The gear is composed of a main line with baited hooks attached at intervals by means of branch lines called “snoods”. An average number of 100-120 snoods (approximately 12 000-14000 hooks), were usually set in one unique main line for hakes (or two lines, only in the cases of setting in different depths). The main line length varies between 3 and 14 miles and it is kept with buoys and stones. Sardines were used as baits. On the other hand, for the Atlantic pomfret fishery, a number of gears of 100-120 used to be set, corresponding to 10 000-14 000 hooks and a main line length between 12-14 nautical miles. In this case, Ammodytidae and Scomberesox saurus were the main species used as baits.


Seasonality
All year long
Trip Duration
12 fishing days (during the period 2005-2007)
Ports
The main base ports during the period 2005-2007 were Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Tenerife) in Canary Islands, Santa Eugenia de Ribeira (Pontevedra) in Galicia (NW Iberian Peninsula) and Algeciras (Cádiz) in Andalucía (S Iberian Peninsula).
Fishery Indicators
TypeMeasureValueUnitTime period
Nominal EffortNumber of vessels 4vessels2007
ParticipationNumber of fishermen 48 – 56persons2009
ProductionCatch total277tonnes2005-2009
Catch Merluccius spp.167tonnes2005-2009
Catch B. brama105tonnes2005-2009
Catch Schedophilus spp.6tonnes2005-2009
Catch Pagellus spp.5tonnes2005-2009
Catch C. conger1tonne2005-2009
Post Harvest
 
Fish Utilisation
Consumption
Markets
Vigo (Galicia, NW Iberian Peninsula), Las Palmas and Tenerife (Canary Islands)
Management
Management unit: No

Jurisdictional framework
Management Body/Authority(ies): Ministère des pêches et de l'économie maritime
Mandate: Management.  
Area under national jurisdiction: Mauritania
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: Mauritania
Maritime Area: Exclusive Economic Zone Areas (EEZ).  
Legal definition
Black hake trawlers and bottom longliners
Management Regime
Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (for the period 1 August 2008 to 31 July 2012) (OJ L 203, 31.07.2008, p. 4–59). : Management measures of the Spanish longliners black hake fishery are included in the current Fishery Agreement between the European Community and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (OJ L 203, 31.07.2008, p. 4–59) under the fishing category “Black hake trawlers and bottom longliners”.

Fishing agreement expired in July 2012. The new fishing agreement is in the ratification process by the European Parliament, but this type of licences has been extended up to date.
Management Methods

Conservation and management measures with focus on Effort control (licences system), catch control and fish size limits.

  • Aquatic species-related measures
    Minimum fish sizes established by the Fishing Agreement: Hakes (Merluccius spp.): 30 cm. Limitation of by-catches: 50% fish, 0% cephalopods and crustaceans.
  • Gear-related measures
    Gear type (bottom logline and bottom trawl for hake)
  • Vessel-related measures
    Access control: Vessel type (size-Maximum 3 240 GT/per licence period for both longliners and bottom trawlers).
  • Fishing activity-related measures
    Licences, vessel number (Maximum 3 240 GT/per licence period for both longliners and bottom trawlers), closed area (out of the fishing area established by the Agreement) and closed season (to be determined).
Status and Trends
 
Maximum catches of black hakes occurred in 2001. There was a strong drop since 2003, with a minimum of 85 tonnes in 2006. This fishery has mainly targeted Brama brama during the last years, with small catches of hakes.
Source of Information
 
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.
Cervantes, A. y R. Goñi, 1986a. Datos de base de la pesquería española de merluza negra senegalesa en las divisiones 34.1.1, 34.1.3 y 34.3.1 de CECAF. En: Rapport du premier groupe de travail spécial sur les pêcheries de merlus et de crevettes profondes dans la zone nord du COPACE. COPACE/PACE Sér., 86/33, 180-186. FAO, Roma, Italia.
Cervantes, A. y R. Goñi, 1986b. Composición por tallas de la captura española de merluza senegalesa (Merluccius senegalensis Cadenat 1950) y merluza negra (Merluccius cadenati Doutre, 1960) en el área de CECAF, año 1982. En: Rapport du premier groupe de travail spécial sur les pêcheries de merlus et de crevettes profondes dans la zone nord du COPACE. COPACE/PACE Sér., 86/33, 232-239. FAO, Roma, Italia.
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.
Diop, M., I. Sobrino, L. Fernández, T. García et A. Ramos. 2004. Evolution des prises accesoires des pêcheries spécialisées crevettière et merluttière dans les eaux mauritaniennes de 1950 à nos tours. Chavance P., M. Bâ, D. Gascuel, J. M. Vakily & D. Pauly (eds.) Rapports de recherche halieutique ACP-UE Fisheries, 139-152. Bruselas.
FAO, 2006a. Report of the FAO/CECAF Working Group on the Assessment of Demersal resources. Conakry, 19-29 September 2003. CECAF/ECAF Series 06/67. FAO. Rome: 357 pp.
FAO, 2006b. Report of the FAO/CECAF Working Group on the Assessment of Demersal resources. Subgroup North. Saly, Senegal, 14-23 September 2004. CECAF/ECAF Series 06/68. FAO. Rome: 219 pp.
FAO, 2007. Report of the FAO/CECAF Working Group on the Assessment of Demersal resources. Subgroup North. Banjul, The Gambia. CECAF/ECAF Series. FAO. Roma (in press).
Fernández, L., B. Meissa, D. Thiao et A. Ramos, 2007. Rapport de la rencontre IMROP/CRODT/IEO pour la validation des statistiques de merlus noirs dans la zone COPACE. Série CECAF/ECAF, in press. Anexo, 25 pp.
Fernández, L., Salmerón, F., Gómez, Mª J., García, R. and Macías, D. 2010. Preliminary data on the ovarian histological structures observed in black hakes (M. polli and M. senegalensis) off Mauritania, 4 pp. (Electronic publication, doi: http://www.fresh-cost.org, in press).
Fernández, L., F. Salmerón, J. Rey and M.A. Puerto, 2010. Biología reproductiva de las merluzas negras (Merluccius polli y M. senegalensis) en aguas de Mauritania. Ciencias Marinas, México. In press.
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. Politécnica 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, 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.
Mittelstaedt, E., 1991. The ocean boundary along the northwest African coast. Circulation and oceanographic properties at the sea surface. Progress in Oceanography 26, 307–355.
Official Journal of the European Union, 2008. Protocol setting out the fishing opportunities and financial contribution provided for in the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania for the period 1 August 2008 to 31 July 2012. OJ L 203, 31.07.2008, p. 4–59.
Ramos, A. y 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. Madrid, España.
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, UK.
Ramos, A., F. Salmerón, A. Carroceda and L. Fernández. 2002. Faunistic composition of catches from Spanish bottom-longline fishery in deep waters of Mauritania. NAFO SCR Doc. 01/148, 4pp. Dartmouth, Canada.
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