Reconciling conservation and exploitation of a key fish species through networks of Marine Protected Areas
Acronym: Reconnect
Duration of the project: 24 months
Project code: 2022Y3TMR7
PI of the project: Antonio Di Franco
Partners: Università degli Studi di Padova, Politecnico di Milano
Networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a key tool for biodiversity conservation and management as they can promote healthy marine ecosystems and provide socio-economic benefits to local communities. One of the major benefits of MPAs is that they support small-scale fisheries by increasing the number of larval, juvenile, and adult individuals in unprotected sites. A network of MPAs can facilitate the exchange of individuals (called ‘connectivity’) between MPAs themselves and unprotected areas, improving the status of a fish population.
Using the brown grouper (Epinephelus marginatus) as a model species, the ‘Reconnect’ project has as its main objectives:
• the identification of areas that host high densities of potential brown grouper spawners and which may therefore represent breeding areas, by collecting data using non-destructive methods such as visual census underwate
• the estimated dispersal of grouper larvae from possible spawning sites
• the assessment of the connection between existing MPAs and those that might be created in the future, with the aim of creating an effective network of MPAs that protects fish species and offers benefits to small-scale fisheries
We will focus on the brown grouper, Epinephelus marginatus, because this species plays a key ecological role in the rocky seabed of the Mediterranean and is an important species for both fishing and sustainable tourism activities (such as diving). The project will be developed along the Sicilian coasts, which are crucial for the Mediterranean ecosystem and host numerous MPAs, and several sites that could become new MPAs in the future.
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