[Coral-List] Mediterranean Red Coral

Georgios Tsounis Georgios at icm.csic.es
Thu Feb 11 15:47:03 EST 2010


Dear Kerim,

thanks so much for this important bit of information. I must say I was  
shocked when I read that they still dredge coral. Also a bit impressed  
about their ingenuity to sink and recover their dredges with GPS, I  
have to admit... Tunisia is not EU, but since when is dredging  
forbidden at your coast? Could it be that coral beds in shallow water  
is depleted and the divers therefore use dredges? If this is the case,  
then the introduction of mixed gas diving techniques and ROV  
technology would provide an alternative to the dredging.

Even anecdotical information (let alone data) about poaching are  
usually in the hands of coast guard or other public enforcement bodies  
that are not in the habit of publishing it, if they archive the data  
at all. We had to conduct interviews with the fishermen themselves and  
rely on grey literature in order to estimate the level of poaching and  
thus total yield.

So this may be a good opportunity to ask the other list participants  
if you know anything about poaching of Corallium spp. either in the  
Mediterranean or elsewhere. You can send me a private email and be  
assured that I will keep the information confidential.

All the best,
Georgios


Dr. Georgios Tsounis
Dept. Biología Marina y Oceanografía
Institut de Ciències del Mar, CMIMA (CSIC)
Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta, 37-49
08003 Barcelona, Spain

Phone: 34  932 309 611
Fax: 34 93 2 309 555
E-mail: georgios at icm.csic.es
  http://www.icm.csic.es



On Feb 3, 2010, at 11:27 AM, Kerim Ben Mustapha wrote:

> ...

>  “Unofficial estimates by fishermen themselves quote that there are  
> as many or more poachers active in Spain than licensed divers”  [the  
> same apply in Tunisia, as corailleurs (divers) reported to me that  
> they all –still- uses a modified “ingegno” , that they immerse or  
> sink (after taking its gps position) at the approach of the coast  
> guard patrol]  for all these reasons a strong and conservative  
> approach is needed, because the management of the fisheries on  
> itself is not sufficient due to the high level of  interests that  
> interact and interfere.  Is this aspect will be covered by the  
> listing in CITES annex 2? I think so.
> Thank you again for your excellent imputs
>
>
>




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