ADRIATIC SEA: THE ROLE OF ARTIFICIAL REEFS IN THE MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING

The western coastal area of the Adriatic Sea is seat of several human activities, including fishery and aquaculture. Small-scale fishery, otter and pelagic trawling, hydraulic dredges for clams, mussel harvesting on wild banks, recreational fisheries and intensive and extensive mussel culture play an important socio-economic role for the coastal communities but often interfere each other for space and/or resources. The study area has not a dedicated national coastal management plan and the spatial administration of fisheries and aquaculture is often carried out at regional level. An important management tool adopted by Regional Authorities to mitigate these conflicts is the deployment of medium-scale artificial reefs along the 3 nm boundary of the coastal strip. The main goals of these artificial reefs are to create physical obstacles against illegal trawling, create suitable habitats for reef-dwelling species, improve small-scale fisheries diversifying target species and catches, and create new extensive mussel cultures to sustain harvesting of mussels on wild banks. Indirect possible effects of these structures include the revitalization of artisanal fisheries, the conversion of high-impact fishing techniques in more selective gears and the creation of appropriate fishing ground for recreational fisheries. This paper will show the potential socio-economic effects of artificial reefs on fisheries and aquaculture in a coastal study area (Marche Region) of the western Adriatic Sea. The evolution of potential future scenarios characterised by an increasing number of artificial reefs will be analysed taking into account all the above mentioned aspects.