Artificial reefs in the management of Mediterranean Sea fisheries

The Mediterranean Sea can be considered as typical in the use of artificial reefs for fish stock and fishery management. Artificial reefs have been used over 40 years in the Mediterranean and mostly to deter illegal trawling in coastal areas and other sensitive habitats, which generally include important spawning and nursery areas for many commercial species. Additionally, artificial reefs are used to reduce conflicts between different fishing activities, mainly illegal trawling and small-scale fisheries operating with set gears. The objectives of most artificial reef deployments in the Mediterranean are to enhance overexploited fish stocks and improve small-scale fisheries, one of the most important activities for the coastal communities. At present, artificial reefs have been constructed in ten Mediterranean bordering countries: Cyprus, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Malta, Principality of Monaco, Spain, Tunisia, and Turkey, excluding Portugal which is located in the westerner part of the Gibraltar Strait. Research on scientific, engineering, legal and socio-economic aspects has strongly contributed to the success of artificial reefs around the Mediterranean and has led to drawing up specific guidelines to assist countries in artificial reef construction and avoid dumping. However, despite the large use of artificial reefs for fishery management in the Mediterranean Sea, there is still a need for additional research on the effective role of artificial reefs in stock enhancement and on the relationship between the artificial substrates and the fish species living inside and/or around the reefs. Moreover, in some Mediterranean countries there is a lack of management measures directed toward rationally exploiting the artificial reef resources and regulating access by the different users to the reefs.