Fisheries Research 172 (2015) 137–147

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Fisheries Research
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fishres

Reconstruction of Italy’s marine fisheries removals and fishing

capacity, 1950–2010
Chiara Piroddi a,∗ , Michele Gristina b , Kyrstn Zylich c , Krista Greer c , Aylin Ulman c ,
Dirk Zeller c , Daniel Pauly c
a
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES), Water Resources Unit, 21027 Ispra (VA), Italy
b
Institute for the Coastal Marine Environment – CNR, Via L. Vaccara 61, Mazara del Vallo, Italy
c
Sea Around Us, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, V6T 1Z4 Vancouver, BC, Canada

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Italy has the highest catches of all countries fishing in the Mediterranean Sea. Despite the availability
Received 21 March 2015 of fisheries statistics at the national level, reported catch amounts account only for a portion of total
Received in revised form 26 May 2015 fisheries removals. This study aims to provide an estimate of 1) catches for all marine fishing sectors; 2)
Accepted 16 June 2015
fishing effort in the major Italian fishing fleets; and 3) catch per unit of effort from 1950 to 2010. Catches
were estimated using a catch-reconstruction approach that looked at all types of fisheries removals: from
Keywords:
reported and unreported landings (from both industrial and artisanal fisheries) to recreational landings
Catches
and discards. The reconstructed total catch for the 1950–2010 time period was 2.6 times the amount
Recreational
Unreported
reported by the FAO on behalf of Italy. Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) landings constituted
Discards 53.9% of the reconstructed total catch, followed by reported catches (38.8%) and unreported discards
Industrial (7.3%). Industrial fisheries were dominant, with 79.1% of the reconstructed total removals, followed by
Artisanal the artisanal catch (16.8%), with recreational (3.2%) and subsistence (0.9%) fisheries making very small
contributions. Catch per unit of effort declined since the early 1950s. Our study is the first that estimated
total Italian fisheries removals and fishing capacity using a holistic approach; such approach is particularly
important in areas like the Mediterranean Sea, where the multi-species and multi-gear nature of fisheries
make the assessment of single-species fisheries resources and their management difficult.
© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction constituting, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of

the United Nations (FAO) statistics, roughly 30% of its all catches.
The Mediterranean Sea has been described as “under siege” due In recent decades, the Italian fishing industry has faced declines,
to the effects of multiple stressors such as fishing, habitat loss and both in terms of catch, due to a decrease in the major fisheries
degradation, pollution, eutrophication, and the incidental introduc- resources (4th Multi-Annual Guidance Plans; MAGPs), and also
tion of alien species (Coll et al., 2011). Fishing is one of the strongest in fishing effort, as a result of European Commission regulations,
pressures, and has caused changes in ecosystem structure, declines which attempt to adjust the fishing fleet to the available fish-
in major fish stocks and in overall biodiversity in many parts of ing resources (Iborra Martin, 2006). In contrast, since the late
the Mediterranean Sea (Colloca et al., 2011; Farrugio et al., 1993; 1980s, there has been a steady increase in farmed fish production.
Papaconstantinou and Farrugio, 2000; Vasilakopoulos et al., 2014). The majority of mariculture production consists of Mediterranean
Although the exploitation of marine resources has a long history in mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and Manila clams (Tapes philip-
the Mediterranean basin (Thompson, 1947), fisheries research and pinarum), followed by gilt-head seabream (Sparus aurata) and
management has only developed post-World War II, particularly European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) (Cataudella and Spagnolo,
in the northwest of the basin (Farrugio et al., 1993). Italian fish- 2011; OECD, 2010). The present reconstruction is solely concerned
eries are among the most important fisheries in the Mediterranean, with marine capture fisheries of finfish and invertebrates (exclud-
ing sponges, turtles, jellyfish and marine mammals), and thus does
not address aquaculture trends and associated issues.
Given the growing emphasis on ecosystem-based manage-
∗ Corresponding author. Present address: Institute of Marine Science, Spanish
ment issues in fisheries (Pikitch et al., 2004), a comprehensive
Research Council, Barcelona, Spain.
E-mail address: [email protected] (C. Piroddi). understanding of total fisheries removals and fishing capacity is

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2015.06.028
0165-7836/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
138 C. Piroddi et al. / Fisheries Research 172 (2015) 137–147

fundamental to understanding the ecosystem resources trends and monk seal (Monachus monachus) and habitat-forming species, such
thus contribute to policy on future resource use. This, however, as seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) (Giakoumi et al., 2013; MacKenzie
becomes challenging in a Mediterranean country whose statis- et al., 2009; Reijnders et al., 1997).
tical reports of catch and effort are often unreliable, and where Italy has a population of 61 million people (ISTAT, 2012), over
actual catches are often underestimated (European Commission, half of which reside in coastal regions (Cori, 1999; ISTAT, 2012).
2003; Garibaldi, 2012; Garibaldi and Kebe, 2005; Moutopoulos Fishing occurs along the entire coastline and catches are landed at
and Koutsikopoulos, 2014). Commercially valuable species often over 800 sites (Cataudella and Spagnolo, 2011; Iborra Martin, 2006;
go directly to public markets and regional auctions, and these OECD, 2010). Despite their marginal contribution to the national
catches often are not included in the official records and hence economy, both in terms of income and employment opportunities,
go unreported (OECD, 1994). Also, there is limited monitoring and fisheries play a fundamental role in certain regions (e.g., in Sicily).
enforcement, especially with regard to illegal nets and mesh sizes, The Italian fishing industry is characterized by the predominance of
the landing and marketing of undersized fish, and compliance with small and older vessels, a diversity of fishing gear, and consequently
restrictions on fishing season and areas (OECD, 1994). Available a diverse array of multi-species catches (Cataudella and Spagnolo,
fisheries statistics exist at the national level, i.e., from the Italian 2011; FAO, 2010; OECD, 2010). The commercial fisheries are repre-
National Statistical Institute (ISTAT) and the Institute for Economic sented by the following types of fleets: bottom trawlers, mid-water
Research in Fishery and Aquaculture (IREPA), and the data from trawlers, purse seiners, longliners, dredges, multi-purpose vessels
these two organizations are sent to FAO. These reported catches and an artisanal fishery.
account only for part of total fisheries removals and have never
been harmonized and/or compared with estimates of total fisheries
removals. This is particularly true for small-scale fisheries, whose 2.2. Italian fisheries management
catches are generally underestimated, and for recreational and sub-
sistence fisheries, which are often not accounted for in countries’ A comprehensive fisheries management scheme was initiated
official statistics (Pauly, 2006; Pauly et al., 2014). in 1982 with the Law 41/1982; prior to that, only certain restric-
As part of an overall effort to reconstruct global fisheries catches tions such as minimum mesh size, minimum legal landing size, and
(Zeller et al., 2007) by the Sea Around Us (www.seaaroundus.org; closed areas were mandated by national authorities. With the intro-
Pauly, 2007), which also includes Mediterranean countries (Coll duction of Law 41/1982, national triennial plans were established.
et al., 2014; Pauly et al., 2014; Tsikliras et al., 2007; Ulman et al., In particular, all professional fishing vessels had to possess a license
2013), this study aims to provide estimates of fishing capacity for managed by the Directorate General for Fishery and Aquaculture of
the major Italian fishing fleets and catches for all marine fish- the Ministry of Agriculture Policy. The license includes characteris-
ing sectors from 1950 to 2010, using all available data sources tics of the vessel (e.g., the name of the vessel, the EU number, GT),
and accounting for reported and unreported commercial landings, limitations of fishing areas, gear use and spatial licensing (e.g., over-
recreational and subsistence landings and discards. Reconstructed seas and ocean-going fishing, Mediterranean fishing, and in-shore
catches and effort presented here are for the whole of Italy. Results coastal fishing; OECD, 2010). Currently, the licensing scheme limits
by sub-regional seas: 1) Ligurian; 2) Northern, Central and Southern fishing effort mainly in the form of temporal restrictions which are
Tyrrhenian; 3) Ionian; 4) Northern, Central and Southern Adriatic set each year in relation to spawning seasons. In addition, the clo-
Sea; 5) Sicilian and 6) Sardinian waters can be found in Piroddi et al. sure is compulsory for the eastern fishing grounds and voluntary
(2014). in the western grounds. Starting in 1996 and re-enforced in 2000, a
seasonal closure was also initiated for tuna. In addition, in 1992, the
European Union (EU) put a 2.5 km limit on the length of driftnets; in
2. Materials and methods 1998, the EU fully banned the use of driftnets in the Mediterranean
Sea and the northeast Atlantic Ocean, which became fully effec-
2.1. Study area tive on January 1, 2002. Additionally, in 1994, the EU established a
set of restrictions for the main gear-types (EU Rule 1626/94) to pre-
Italy is located in southern Europe and covers an area of approx- serve fisheries resources in the Mediterranean Sea. For instance, the
imately 301,270 km2 . It includes the Italian peninsula, Sicily and operation of trawls and seines was prohibited within three nautical
Sardinia (the two largest Mediterranean islands), and 71 other miles (nm) from the coast except for “special fisheries” for which
smaller islands. The country consists of 21 regions, 15 of which are derogation by the national legislation was put in place. For example,
coastal (Fig. 1). The territorial waters extend to 12 nautical miles the “Bianchetto” (juvenile of Sardina pilchardus), “Rossetto” (Aphia
from the coast and have a surface area of 7210 km2 and the conti- minuta mediterranea) and “Cicerello” (juvenile of Gymnammodytes
nental shelf has a surface area of 201310 km2 (Iborra Martin, 2006). cicerelus) fisheries operate only in winter (January 15–March 15 as
The Italian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), as delineated by Claus a rule) for a period of 60 days. These fisheries have a long history
et al. (2014) (see also www.vliz.be), covers nearly 538,000 km2 . Due at the local level and are one of the most important small-scale
to its central Mediterranean Sea location, four of the seven Mediter- activities with large socio-economic impacts. Since 2010, the EU
ranean Sea subdivisions surround the peninsula: the Tyrrhenian has banned these fisheries (small trawling boats using mesh size
and Ligurian Sea in the west, the Ionian Sea in the south and the <40 mm) throughout the Mediterranean for their unsustainability,
Adriatic Sea in the east. This geographic positioning leads to impor- stating that only vessels of other gear types with a proper manage-
tant biophysical differences of the waters around Italy. For example, ment plan would be allowed to fish (Reg. (CE) n. 1967/2006).
the distribution of the continental shelf is very uneven; it is very In Italy, to date, no quotas or TACs (total allowable catch) have
broad and shallow in the Adriatic Sea, but changes to very nar- been established, except for sedentary species such as clams or
row shelves with steep slopes in the other seas (Cataudella and highly migratory species such as Atlantic bluefin tuna, due to the
Spagnolo, 2011; Francalanci, 1993). Also, the waters range from multi-species nature of the fisheries, which does not allow fishers
being highly eutrophic in the northern Adriatic Sea to oligotrophic to easily shift their target species from one to the other (Cataudella
in most other areas. The diversity of these biophysical conditions and Spagnolo, 2011; Iborra Martin, 2006; OECD, 2010).
also leads to a high biodiversity: Italian waters host important com- Also, few fisher consortia exist in the country, such as for the
mercial species such as the Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), management of molluscs (CO.GE.MO) and of small-scale fisheries
charismatic megafauna such as the endangered Mediterranean (CO.GE.PA.), introduced by the Italian Ministry, to empower fishers
 C. Piroddi et al. / Fisheries Research 172 (2015) 137–147 139

Fig. 1. Italy with its coastal regions (LI: Liguria; TO: Toscany; LA: Lazio; CAM: Campania; CAL: Calabria; SI: Sicily; SA: Sardinia; BA: Basilicata; PU: Apulia; MO: Molise; AB:
Abruzzo; MA: Marches; ER: Emilia Romagna; VE: Veneto; FVG: Friuli Venezia Giulia) and the four surrounding sub-regionals seas: Ligurian; (Northern, Central and Southern)
Tyrrenian; Ionian and (Northern, Central and Southern) Adriatic Sea. For the scope of the report Sicilian and Sardinian waters have been considered separately.

Table 1 considered, years of data availability, associated references, anchor

Catch allocation reconstruction following ISTAT-IREPA structure.
points and estimated uncertainty (see below).
Sub-regional division Coastal regions

1. Ligurian Liguria
2. Tyrrhenian 2.4.1. Official landings
- Northern Tuscany The baseline used for reported catches was the time-series of
- Central Lazio capture production from the two Italian national statistical organi-
- Southern Campania and Calabria West
zations (ISTAT and IREPA) which were compared to the FAO FishStat
3. Ionian Calabria East; Apulia West; Basilicata
4. Adriatic
database. Two other FAO databases were also used: the global cap-
- Northern Emilia Romagna; Veneto; Friuli Venetia Giulia ture production dataset available for 1950–2010 and the regional
- Central Abruzzi; Marches; Molise; Emilia Romagna dataset from the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediter-
- Southern Apulia East ranean (GFCM) available for 1970–2010 (FAO, 2012). Since the two
5. Sardinian Sardinia
trends were identical for the same time period (1970–2010) we
6. Sicilian Sicily
decided to use and present here only the FAO global dataset, which
had longer time series.
As previously mentioned, ISTAT and IREPA were the responsi-
and local fishing enterprises to manage and regulate specific stocks ble authorities which collected the data. In particular, the official
in limited areas (Spagnolo, 2006). catch statistics were first provided by ISTAT from 1950 to 2001,
and only recently the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Policies (MIPAAF) transferred management of the fishery sector to
2.3. Catch reconstruction approach
IREPA from 2005 onwards. In 2000, IREPA, before becoming the
official national fisheries statistical organization, under a mandate
The reconstruction of Italy’s total fisheries catches for the
of MIPAAF, and with respect to European legislative requirements,
1950–2010 period was completed by following the same approach
took the coordinating role of optimizing the fisheries statistical
as described and applied in Zeller et al. (2007). Since this method
scheme to obtain detailed and harmonized fisheries data collec-
is well known and well described, refer to Zeller et al. (2007) for a
tion along the entire Italian coast. This new survey methodology
more detailed description.
collects other relevant data on important aspects of the fisheries,
namely, total landings per species; prices obtained by species; fish-
2.4. Data sources ing effort; fishing hours; and fishing typologies. This is carried out
on a weekly basis by ‘local observers’ from within the fisheries sec-
A general description of data sources used in the reconstruction tor, i.e., biologists, ship owners, ex-fishers, and business consultants
is detailed in Table 4. In particular, we presented the fishing sectors distributed along the major Italian fishing ports (of which there
140 C. Piroddi et al. / Fisheries Research 172 (2015) 137–147

Table 2 divisions) was sent for validation to national experts (from local
Technological coefficients of fishing vessels by gear type as reported by Pauly and
Universities: Universita’ degli Studi di Sassari/Genova, respectively,
Palomares (2010).
in Sardinia and Liguria; from the National Research Council (CNR):
Technological coefficient Ancona and Mazaro del Vallo; and/or from local research institutes:
Vessel type 1950–1980 1981–1995 1996–2010 Arpat Toscana).
The taxonomic breakdown of the commercial species used in the
Trawlers 0.5 1 1.8
Mid water trawlers 0.5 1 1.8 reconstruction was taken from ISTAT and IREPA (Supplementary
Dredges 0.5 1 1.4 materials, Table S1). Most of the species were commonly repre-
Purse seiners 0.5 1 1.8 sented, although in a few occasions, some adjustments were made,
Artisanal 0.5 1 1.3 for example, ‘goatfishes’ were one group for ISTAT, which IREPA
Multiple gears 0.5 1 2.5
Longliners 0.5 1 2.8
split into red mullet (Mullus barbatus) and striped red mullet (Mul-
lus surmuletus). In these cases, we decided to use the most detailed
list of species, and apply the proportion of presence observed in
one source to the other list. In addition, due to the high amount
are approximately 800). The structure of our reconstruction data
of the very uninformative group ‘marine fishes nei’ in the data, we
followed the spatial allocation outlined in Table 1. Here, the Adri-
decided to split this group into several species and/or groups of
atic and the Tyrrhenian Seas were split into Northern, Central and
species according to the catch composition in the data disseminated
Southern sections to account for their large extent and for signifi-
by FAO on behalf of Italy. Thus, the reported data were allocated to
cant differences in reported landings. Sicilian and Sardinian waters
82 species or taxa for this reconstruction (Table S1).
were considered separately for the same reason (Fig. 1).
Among the sub-regional divisions, Sicily, followed by Central
2.4.2. Fishing effort
Adriatic, and South and North Tyrrhenian had the most incom-
Fishing effort (here in kW days−1 ) was estimated by taking the
plete catch datasets (Fig. 2). Since this inconsistency was already
product of the number of fishing vessels, kW per vessel (inferred
noted in other studies (AdriaMed, 2003; Cataudella and Spagnolo,
from their GT), and the number of days spent fishing. This infor-
2011), the IREPA dataset was used from 1996 to 2010, while for the
mation was obtained from ISTAT and IREPA. From 1950 to 1983,
remaining time series (1950–1995), ISTAT catch trend and species
the type of vessels reported by ISTAT consisted of only four groups:
composition was used. Due to this sub-regional division, gaps and
trawlers, gillnetters, longliners and ‘various gears’. From 1984 to
inconsistencies with the data were easier to address and correct
2001, vessel classification was extended to incorporate four addi-
(most of the time to species-level) through literature searches.
tional groups: mid-water trawlers, purse seiners, dredges, and
In particular, using the scientific literature (Cappuccinelli, 2005,
multiple-use vessels. From 1996, IREPA assigned the following clas-
2011), we were able to reconstruct the last 11 years of the catches of
sifications to vessel-type:
European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) and European pilchard
(S. pilchardus) around the coasts of Sardinia (Supplementary mate-
• Trawl;
rials, Fig. S1). We were also able to complement our compiled
• Purse seine;
dataset or officially reported landings, i.e., the integration of IREPA
• Mid-water trawl;
and ISTAT datasets, with catch data of Atlantic bluefin tuna, frigate
• Mechanical dredges (hydraulics dredge);
tuna (Auxis thazard), Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda) and swordfish
• Longlines (drifting or fixed longlines with vessel length >12 m);
(Xiphias gladius), using the ICCAT statistical database for the main
• Artisanal fishery (fixed gears such as set nets, hooks and traps
Italian sub-regions. In particular, we tried to use a conservative
with vessel length <12 m);
approach by taking into account the maximum landing estimates
• Passive multi-use vessels (fixed gears with vessel length >12 m);
for each of these taxa from each dataset. The difference between
• Multi-technique vessels (both fixed and mobile gears).
ICCAT and IREPA–ISTAT catches regarding these large pelagic fishes
and the reconstructed trends are displayed in Fig. S2.
This classification takes into account the high degree of multi-
In addition, once completed, each regionally compiled dataset
gear use by the Italian fishing fleets and their wide dispersal rate
of reported landings (corresponding to each of the six sub-regional
along the entire coastline. More than 80% of vessels are authorized
to fish with a variety of fishing gears, particularly for small-sized
vessels, due to their limited range, which forces them to depend on
the seasonal availability of coastal resources. Similar to the reported
catches, there were some discrepancies between the two primary
sources (ISTAT and IREPA) for the number of fishing vessels and GT
values, as a result, the more detailed list of fleets (in this case, from
IREPA) was used. The data began in 1984 and in order to include
estimates for the missing years (1950–1983) in the absence of effort
data from earlier years, the proportion of observed fleets for earlier
years was taken as the same as for 1984. The reason why we decided
to keep the same proportion as 1984, and not the average ratio
between 1984 and 2010, was due to the reduction in effort observed
in the country from the mid-1980s onward, mainly as a result of
EU regulations and declines in marine resources. The number of
days at sea and number of fishers were available only from 1996
to 2010 through the IREPA dataset; thus, to estimate the missing
years (1950–1995), we maintained kept the ratio of days at sea and
the ratio of fishers per type of fleet observed in 1996.
GT was used to estimate fishing power in kW for each ves-
Fig. 2. Number of species per each sub-regional division present in the IREPA dataset
with catch values greater than 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% compared to the ISTAT
sel using the equation developed by Anticamara et al. (2011), i.e.,
dataset. kW = 11.26 GT0.71 , which expresses the relationship between GT
 C. Piroddi et al. / Fisheries Research 172 (2015) 137–147 141

Table 3 of the total population fished recreationally, while for 1990–1992,

‘Score’ for evaluating the quality of time series of reconstructed catches, with their
1994–1995 and 1997–2002, we interpolated the estimates of the
confidence intervals.
four anchor points, and for the last period (2004–2010), the per-
Score −% +% Corresponding IPCC criteriaa centage observed in 2003 (2.7%) was held constant to 2010. We
4 Very high 10 20 High agreement & assumed that the proportions of recreational fishing fleets for each
robust evidence sub-regional division observed in 1996 were constant through-
3 High 20 30 High agreement & out the years (Table S2), and that two fishers per boat caught
medium evidence
1.6 t year−1 of fish (Anagnopoulos et al., 1998), to derive total Ital-
or medium
agreement & ian boat-based recreational catches from 1950 to 2010. To allocate
robust evidence recreational catches to species-level, we used the ratio found in
2 Low 30 50 High agreement & Anagnopoulos et al. (1998) for each sub-divisional region (Table
limited evidence or
S3).
medium
agreement & Also, since there is also an illegal aspect to the recreational
medium evidence fisheries, (e.g., undersized fish, catch above the permitted limits,
or low agreement etc., Table S4), an additional illegal component was estimated (see
& robust evidence below for further details).
1 Very low 50 90 Less than high
agreement & less
than robust
2.4.4. Unreported landings II: Illegal, subsistence catches and
evidence
discards
a
(IPCC criteria from Fig. 1 of Mastrandrea et al. (2010), which note that “con- In Italy, as in many other parts of the Mediterranean Sea (Coll
fidence increase” [and hence confidence intervals are reduced] “when there are
multiple, consistent independent lines of high-quality evidence”).
et al., 2014; Ulman et al., 2013), unreported commercial catches
are almost always associated with illegal fishing activities and are
thus of concern. In Italy, the most common infringements include
and kW as an exponential relationship. As for days at sea and num- the use of illegal fishing gears, trawlers operating closer to shore
ber of fishers, GT was available per type of fleets only for the period than permitted, fishing in ‘no take’ marine protected areas, and
1996–2010 and thus it was extrapolated for the missing years as the the catching of ‘bianchetto’ or other undersized specimen (ISMEA,
average ratio of GT in the observed time period. Changes in technol- 2006). Although the approach carried out by IREPA, with observers
ogy have increased fishing capacity on board the same vessel over inspecting landings at the main harbors along the Italian coasts,
time (Pauly and Palomares, 2010). To account for improvements in should minimize the quantity of unreported landings, we decided
technology that are not be captured by kW as a measure of effort, a to search for additional information coming from NGO reports and
technological “creep factor” of 1% was applied since 1980 (Table 2), from Italian newspaper accounts and TV documentaries.
as derived from the empirical relationship by Pauly and Palomares The most widely-known and ‘observed’ illegal fishing activity
(2010). along the entire Italian coast is the use of driftnets. At the end of the
Finally, we calculated catch per unit of effort (CPUE) expressed 1980s, the driftnet fishery was the largest fishery in the Mediter-
as kg kW−1 days−1 by dividing the total reconstructed catches by ranean Sea with over 700 vessels, driftnets of up to 40 km in length
the total reconstructed effort for the whole of Italy. For compari- and annual reported catches of 5000 t of swordfish and 1000 t of
son, we also calculated CPUE using the official catch statistics (FAO) tuna (Tudela, 2004). Despite the maximum length limit of 2.5 km
divided by the total reconstructed effort. prescribed by the EU in 1992, approximately 650 driftnet boats
continued operating with nets measuring on average between 10
and 12 km (Tudela, 2004). The unreported catches from 1992 to
2.4.3. Unreported landings I: Recreational catches
2001 were assumed to be based on a constant number of 650 ves-
While recreational fishing can be practiced both at sea and
sels from 1992 to 1998 (Tudela, 2004) and 299 vessels (Cornax,
from land, the present study concerns only boat-based recreational
2007) from 1999 to 2001, 5% of which operated from Liguria, 49%
activities, and therefore excludes shore-based angling, spear fish-
in the Tyrrhenian Sea, 31% from Sicily, 7% from Sardinia as well as
ing and shellfish collection. Until 2010, recreational catches had
from the Ionian Sea. A catch rate per vessel of 7 t year−1 of sword-
never been assessed or included in national fishery statistics. To
fish and 1.4 t year−1 of tunas was assumed based on Tudela (2004)
fulfill recent EU legislative requirements, the Italian Ministry of
and Cornax et al. (2006). From 2002 onwards, after driftnet fish-
Agriculture and Forestry (MIPAAF) first surveyed recreational fish-
ing was officially banned, surveys conducted by different NGOs in
ing activities (particularly the number of fishers and gear types).
major Italian ports identified over 150 driftnet boats still in opera-
To date, there are only a few sources of information regarding
tion (fish were landed at night to avoid controls). Also, in 2008, the
Italian recreational fisheries. The first preliminary assessment was
journalist Sabrina Giannini conducted a series of interviews with
conducted in 1996 by Anagnopoulos et al. (1998), who described
fishers, and documented the illegal driftnet activities for an Ital-
recreational fisheries in Italy and Greece with respect to their fleet
ian TV program (“Report: Mare Nostrum: sfruttamento marino”).2
size, number of fishers, landings, and fishing effort, here used as
To estimate these unreported driftnet catches for the 2002–2010
anchor points for 1996. Based on more recent sources of infor-
period, the following sources were used: OCEANA (Cornax, 2007;
mation (Cisneros-Montemayor and Sumaila, 2010; Gaudin and De
Cornax and Pardo, 2009; Cornax et al., 2006), RSPCA in collabora-
Young, 2007; Gordoa et al., 2004; Pawson et al., 2007), three addi-
tion with Humane Society International and the Whale and Dolphin
tional anchor points representing the number of fishers for the
Conservation Society (2005), and the interview conducted by Sab-
years 1989, 1993 and 2003, were developed. Population statistics
rina Giannini. The number of boats observed (∼150) was kept
for the 1950–2010 period were extracted from ISTAT (2012) and
constant for the 2002–2010 period and a constant catch rate per
used to indirectly estimate total recreational catches by local resi-
boat of 2 t year−1 of swordfish and 0.5 t year−1 of tunas was used.
dents. For instance, we used the percentage of observed number
of fishers (from the four anchor points) in the total population
(1989: 2.2%; 1993: 2.7%; 1996: 2.6% and 2003: 2.7%) to establish
a time series of number of recreational fishers for the missing 2
Available at: http://www.report.rai.it/dl/Report/puntata/ContentItem-
years. Thus, for the 1950–1988 period, it was assumed that 2.2% 1c6411c7-2f60-490d-bd5a-2829c1d233ff.html.
142 C. Piroddi et al. / Fisheries Research 172 (2015) 137–147

Table 4
Italian reconstruction of the catches highlighting the fishing sector considered, the period of data available (Time), the source, anchor points, and estimated uncertainty.

Fishing Sector Time Specific species/taxa Anchor points Uncertainty Main Sources

Reported 1950–1995 No Yes ISTAT

catches 1996–2010 No Yes IREPA
1950–2010 Atlantic bluefin tuna; frigate No Yes ICCAT
tuna; Atlantic bonito and
swordfish
2000–2010 European anchovy and No Yes Cappuccinelli, 2005, 2011
European pilchard

Unreported catches:
Recreational 1989 Yes Yes Gaudin and De Young, 2007;
catches Gordoa et al., 2004; Pawson
et al., 2007
1993 Yes Yes Gaudin and De Young, 2007;
Gordoa et al., 2004; Pawson
et al., 2007
1996 Yes Yes Anagnopoulos et al., 1998
2003 Yes Yes Cisneros-Montemayor and
Sumaila, 2010

Commercial (driftnet) 1992-2010 Yes Yes Tudela, 2004; Cornax, 2006,

2007; Cornax and Pardo, 2009
Report: Mare Nostrum:
sfruttamento marino; RSPCA,
2005
Commercial (others) 1950–2010 Yes Yes Italian Coast Guard database
and interviews with LT
Commander Alessio Morelli
Subsistence 1950–2010 Yes Yes Coll et al., 2014
Discards 1950–2010 Yes Yes European Commission, 2011;
Sartor et al., 2003; Tsagarakis
et al., 2013; Vassilopoulou,
2012; Vitale et al., 2006; Relini,
1981; European Commission,
2008; Gilman et al., 2007;
MegaPesca, 1999; Castriota
et al., 2004; D’Onghia et al.,
2003; Botter et al., 2006;
Sánchez et al., 2007; Scarcella
et al., 2007; Santojanni et al.,
2005

Regarding other illegal activities occurring in the artisanal, their by-catch, which is an important component of unreported
industrial and recreational fisheries, only recently have Italian landings. The rates of by-catch and discards were determined by
media/newspapers begun to report on them. The majority of this the type of fleet of each sub-regional division and the total catch
news refers to the confiscation of illegal gear by the Italian Coast per type of fleet (Table S5). We then separated the retained by-catch
Guard, and only a few accounts refer to quantities of confiscated from discards, using data in the literature, of which, approximately
species (Table S4). Since 2010, the Italian Coast Guard has started 60% was retained and 40% discarded (Sánchez et al., 2007; Sartor
to report on illegal operations at sea and on land. We used the infor- et al., 2003).
mation from the Italian Coast Guard database, combined with direct
interviews conducted with LT Commander Alessio Morelli, Head of
the Fisheries National Control Unit-Coast Guard, to derive a rough 2.4.5. Uncertainty
estimate of illegal activity in the area. We assessed the uncertainty associated with the reconstruction
We were not able to identify any sources of data relating to per- using a scoring procedure, utilizing uncertainty criteria devel-
sonal consumption (i.e., the subsistence fishery). Thus, to develop oped and used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
such an estimate indirectly, and in a conservative manner, we used (Mastrandrea et al., 2010) to assess uncertainty of input data used in
and held constant the lowest value (1 kg fisher−1 day−1 ) estimated their assessments, which were further calibrated using the results
by Coll et al. (2014) for the Spanish subsistence fishery (since Spain of Monte Carlo simulation in Ainsworth and Pitcher (2005) and
shares similar fish consumption patterns and maritime policies), Tesfamichael and Pitcher (2007). In particular, this approach con-
and applied this to Italian commercial fishers per fleet type and sisted of assigning a score, ranging between 1 (very low evidence
the number of fishing days per type of fleet, per year and per each or less robust data) and 4 (very high evidence and robust data), to
sub-division. the reconstructed catch data of each fishing sector for three differ-
Italian discards for the 1950–2010 period were estimated using ent decades (1950–1969; 1970–1989; 1990–2010) (See Table 3 and
two main anchor points, one by Vassilopoulou (2012) and the other Table S6 in Supplementary materials). Average scores (and hence
by the European Commission (2011a). Additional scientific papers percentage confidence intervals) for each time period were derived
were used in regards to local studies (Table S5). Due to the multi- through catch-weighted averaging of sector scores.
species nature of Italian fisheries, which allows for the catching of This scoring procedure was previously used in a ‘blind’ scoring
several species at the same time, the high demand of seafood in local session for 22 Pacific Island countries and territories (Zeller et al.,
markets, and the high enforcement costs required for the monitor- 2015) in which each score was independently (blind) given by three
ing of restrictions, fishers rarely discard fish, but retain and land separate research staff. This procedure showed little differences
between scorers, and generally reflected the score given by the lead
 C. Piroddi et al. / Fisheries Research 172 (2015) 137–147 143

Fig. 3. Reconstructed total catches for the whole of Italy: a) by fishing sector and discards, with reported FAO catches overlaid as black line graph for 1950–2010 period; and
b) by taxa (the ‘Others’ grouping contains 82 taxa).

researcher who had conducted each island’s reconstruction. Hence,

for Italy, the leading author scored each sector for each of the three
time periods, as she was most familiar with the underlying data
sources and their level of reliability or trustworthiness.

3. Results

3.1. Reconstructed total catches

The reconstructed total catch for the 1950–2010 period

exceeded by a factor of 2.6 the official catches reported by the
FAO on behalf of Italy. Of this, approximately 79% was caught by
industrial fisheries, 17% by artisanal fisheries, 3% by recreational
fisheries and <1% by subsistence fisheries, while discards (7% of the
total) were predominately (95%) from industrial fisheries (Fig. 3a).
Reconstructed total catches were relatively stable throughout the
1950s and 1960s, averaging about 700,000 t year−1 , before increas-
ing between 1971 and 1979 to 1.1 million t year−1 . Thereafter, the
Fig. 4. Italian national catch data coming from the two national sources, ISTAT (dot-
annual catch plateaued at an average of 1.06 million t year−1 until ted line) and IREPA (dark line), for the 1950–2010 period in comparison with the
1986, then sharply decreased to 676,000 t year−1 by 1990. Annual ones reported to FAO (grey line).
catches remained steady in the early 1990s, with a small increase
to 741,000 t in 1998, before again sharply decreasing and continu- and 26 greater than 100%, while the remaining had similar values
ing the declining trend to the end of the time series in 2010, when between the two sources. Also, no adjustments were required to the
catches were just 374,000 t (Fig. 3a). six catch datasets after they were sent for validation to the national
Catches consisted of 92 taxa, of which 65 were identified to experts.
species, including higher pooled groups such as ‘marine fishes nei’ In total, for the 1950–2010 period, Italian reported
and ‘marine invertebrates nei’. In terms of total tonnage, catches national landings ranged between approximately 220,000 and
were dominated by small pelagic fishes, notably European anchovy 721,000 t year−1 . These data were visibly higher (on average more
(E. encrasicolus), which accounted for 18.1% of all catches (Fig. 3b). than two times higher) than the data reported to FAO for the
The second most important taxon, in terms of tonnage (at least in same time period which ranged from 171,000 to 430,000 t year−1 .
earlier decades) was the European pilchard (S. pilchardus), which Overall, there was a slight decrease in national reported landings
accounted for 12.5% of total catches overall, but has since declined between 1950 and the beginning of the 1960s, followed by an
substantially (Fig. 3b). The remaining taxa, grouped by family, increase in the middle of the 1980s and a general and continuous
contributing the most to the catches were molluscs (12.4%), Scom- decline to 2010. This differs from the trend in the FAO data which
bridae (9.0%), Sparidae (7.4%), crustaceans (5.6%), Carangidae (4.0%) increases steadily in 1950 with a peak in 1985 and then fairly
and sharks and rays (3.9%; Fig. 3b). steadily declines in 2010 (Fig. 3a). European anchovies and Euro-
pean pilchards were the main fish species reported in the national
3.2. Official landings data throughout the different sub-regions, which began to decline
in the beginning of 1980s (Fig. 3b). All the other major taxa, (e.g.,
For the reported landings, we compared our assessment with Scombridae, Mollusca, Sparidae and Carangidae) presented similar
the two national sources of statistics (ISTAT and IREPA) and the trends with declines commencing from the 1980s or beginning of
FAO, and found that data sets were similar only for the last six years 1990s (Fig. 3b).
(2005–2010, Fig. 4), which corresponds to the period when IREPA
became the official national statistical source. Most of the catches 3.3. Fishing effort and catch per unit of effort
per species and per sub-regional division in the ISTAT dataset were
on at least 30–40% lower than the one provided by IREPA. In par- Results indicated that artisanal vessels dominated in terms of
ticular, when comparing the years 2000 and 2001 between the two vessels numbers, followed by trawlers and multiple gears (Fig. 5a).
national sources, of the 58 taxa in the IREPA dataset, 49 had catch Trawlers, on the other hand, had the highest fishing effort, in term
values greater than 25%, 43 greater than 50%, 33 greater than 75% of cumulative engine power (kW days−1 ), followed by purse seiners
144 C. Piroddi et al. / Fisheries Research 172 (2015) 137–147

Fig. 5. For the whole of Italy: b) reconstructed total number of fishing boats; and b) reconstructed total fishing effort (kW days−1 ) per gear type.

(23%) and 85,600 t (22%), respectively. Given our assumption of

same catch compositions for subsistence catches and reported
landings, the subsistence catch was assumed to consist mainly of
European anchovy (13.5%), European pilchard (10.7%) and molluscs
(14.8%).

3.6. Unreported commercial catches and discards

The estimated unreported catches for the illegal driftnet fishing

fleet for the 1992–2010 period totaled 49,130 t, which consisted
to 83% of swordfish and 17% of tuna species. The regions in which
this illegal activity was prevalent were the South Tyrrhenian Sea
and Sicily, which contributed 46% and 31% of the 49,130 t, respec-
Fig. 6. Catch per unit of effort (kg kW−1 days−1 ) for the whole of Italy for the tively. Also, an illegal component from other industrial fishing fleets
1950–2010 period using the reconstructed catches and effort time series (black
and the artisanal sector was added. In particular, a total of approx-
line) and catches reported by the FAO on behalf of Italy with the reconstructed
effort (dotted line).
imately 6 million t was estimated for the period 1950–2010, of
which 76% and 24% came from industrial and artisanal fisheries,
respectively.
and artisanal fisheries (Fig. 5b). With regards to all fishing fleet and Retained unreported by-catch per fleet type and per subdivision
their trends, number of vessels and fishing effort, decreased over for the period 1950–2010 accounted for approximately 5 million t,
time, after the maximum from the late 1970s to mid-1980s (with averaging about 82,500 t year−1 , most of which came from indus-
only multiple gears having their highest peak in the 1990s) and a trial fisheries (95%) and from the Central Adriatic (∼1.6 million t;
steady decline thereafter. 33%) and Sicily (1.2 million t; 25%). The major by-catch taxa
The CPUE trend showed a continuous decline since the 1950s were clams (Bivalvia; 604,000 t; 12.0%), sharks (Selachimorpha;
with a maximum of ∼9kg kW−1 days−1 in the early 1950s and a 446,000 t; 8.9%), jacks (Trachurus spp.; 335,000 t; 6.7%) and rays
minimum of ∼3kg kW days−1 in the late 2000s (Fig. 6). (Rajidae; 283,000 t; 5.6%). Discards, on the other hand, were
3.4 million t. Since we applied a proportional rate to separate the
3.4. Unreported landings: Recreational fisheries retained by-catch from discards, the same patterns were observed
for the regional subdivisions and discarded taxa. Discards and by-
The estimated recreational catches for 1950–2010 were around catch from bottom trawling represented the largest component,
1.45 million t, which increased from 19,200 t in 1950 to 29,800 t totaling 3.8 million t (Fig. 3a).
in 2010 with a pronounced growth during the last three decades
(Fig. 3a). The Adriatic Sea accounted for 597,000 t (41.4%); the 3.7. Uncertainty
Tyrrhenian Sea sub-division 497,000 (34.3%); the Ligurian 194,000 t
(13.4%); Sardinia 77,300 t (5.3%); Sicily 68,100 t (4.7%) and Ionian The ranges of uncertainty estimated for the reconstructed total
Sea 16,700 t (1.2%). The major species caught in Italy by the recre- catches showed wider confidence intervals in the first two estima-
ational sector were tuna (Scombridae) with 232,000 t (15.4%), tion periods (1950–1969; 1970–1989) and a reduction only in the
bogue with 155,000 t (10.7%), Atlantic bonito with 107,000 t (7.4%) last period (1990–2010; Fig. 7).
and Mediterranean horse mackerel (Trachurus mediterraneus) with
97,300 t (6.7%). 4. Discussion

3.5. Unreported landings: Subsistence catches This study represents the first attempt to estimate total fisheries
removals for the whole of Italy in the Mediterranean Sea, for the
The estimated subsistence catches for the 1950–2010 time period 195–2010. Our reconstructed total catches were 2.6 times
period averaged 6400 t year−1 , with a maximum of 9100 t in 1982 the landings officially reported by the FAO on behalf of Italy for the
and minimum of 4000 t in 2010, contributing only 0.9% of the recon- same period and same sea. This difference was mainly caused by
structed total catch (Fig. 3a). In this case, the Central Adriatic Sea poor reporting of commercial catches, with unreported commercial
and Sicily had the highest removals, with approximately 91,400 t landings (from both industrial and artisanal sectors) contributing
 C. Piroddi et al. / Fisheries Research 172 (2015) 137–147 145

(around 60% of all Italian fishing vessels), from a catch volume per-
spective, trawlers caught the most, and, despite accounting for only
21% of the fishing boats, they had the greatest impact on commer-
cial and non-commercial taxa in the region (Pranovi et al., 2000;
Sánchez et al., 2007; Sartor et al., 2003). As for the increase of mul-
tiple gears observed here, this might be an artifact derived from
the different criteria of grouping vessels, as done by IREPA in past
years. In fact, vessels were roughly aggregated by prevalent fish-
ing gear, and whenever their prevalent gear was not obvious, they
were included in the “multiple gear” category.
Besides reported commercial catches, the recreational fisheries
were assessed; since no official/reported time series of catches
exist, this fishing sector was considered unreported from 1950
to 2010. In Italy, only a few sources of information are available
Fig. 7. Estimated reconstructed total catches with confidence intervals. The values (Anagnopoulos et al., 1998; Cisneros-Montemayor and Sumaila,
of the error bars are displayed for each time period (1960 for 1950–1969, 1980 for 2010; Gaudin and De Young, 2007; Gordoa et al., 2004; Pawson
1970–1989, and 2000 for 1990–2010).
et al., 2007), and thus, for a few regions, high uncertainty still exists
with regards to total catch. Since this sector has increased in Italy,
50% to the total catch (in relation to FAO reporting) and discards particularly in the north-west (Anagnopoulos et al., 1998; Pawson
contributing another 7%. This gap in the official national statistics et al., 2007), more effort should be invested to assess the impact of
(mainly related to the earlier period of the ISTAT datasets) was pre- recreational fisheries on marine resources and ultimately to refine
viously observed by other studies (AdriaMed, 2003; Cataudella and the estimates of the total Italian catch.
Spagnolo, 2011) which documented that about 30–40% of catches Illegal catches and unreported catches (including discards),
remained unreported, and pointed to changes in data collection, despite being a serious issue in Italian fisheries, have never been
systematic approach and absence of data verification and/or anal- previously assessed. We consider these components the least stud-
ysis as the causes of this discrepancy. Our reconstruction agrees ied among all the different Italian fishery sectors, and with the
with these studies, with an even higher discrepancy for industrial highest uncertainty. Since they are key components for under-
fisheries (53%). We recognize that, because of the nature of our standing and evaluating the impact of fishing on commercial and
approach used here, which requires assumption-based inferences non-commercial taxa (Zeller et al., 2007) specific studies (e.g., struc-
and interpolations, uncertainties remain (see below), for example tured interviews with fishers) should be implemented to properly
in our estimates of underreported catches or in the disaggregation assess them. Despite these caveats, our study indicates that unre-
of the taxonomic catch composition and further studies should be ported catches are very significant, accounting for over half of total
conducted to reduce this uncertainty. However, we believe that our fisheries removals. These results are in line with other catch recon-
approach is justified by the unacceptability of the alternative, yet struction studies conducted in the Mediterranean Sea that have
common default approach, of interpreting non-reported or miss- shown high percentages of unreported and illegal catches in their
ing data components as zero removals (Pauly et al., 1998). Thus, by assessment of fisheries removals, e.g., 40% in Spain (Coll et al., 2014),
documenting and justifying each step of our approach, our study 35% in Greece (Tsikliras et al., 2007), 63% in Turkey (Ulman et al.,
represents the first important step towards the integrated under- 2013). In Italy, one of the major causes of illegal/unreported catches
standing of total fisheries removals for all of Italy. is the continuous use of prohibited driftnets. The loss of revenue due
Our reconstructed commercial catches and fishing effort to changes in fishing gears is probably the major reason behind such
showed a remarkable decline starting around the 1980s as a conse- constant fishing practice (swordfish and tuna species are important
quence of the decline of the living marine resources (Arneri, 1996; and high-valued products of the Italian market); in fact, the profits
Iborra Martin, 2006), the increase in fishing costs (e.g., fuel; Sacco, that one driftnet boat could obtain are generally 25% higher than
2011) and the EU regulations to reduce fishing capacity (Iborra the net added value from an average vessel (Spagnolo and Sabatella,
Martin, 2006). In Italy, it has been observed that, after the 1980s, 2004). Regarding other illegal activities, no historical information
catches rapidly declined, primarily as a result of a decrease in the was found. In 2010, the Italian Coast Guard started collecting and
biomass of small pelagic fishes, particularly European anchovy and reporting infringements at sea and on land in relation to the use of
European pilchard (Iborra Martin, 2006) and many other important illegal gears or undersized species (European Commission, 2011b).
demersal and pelagic fish stocks (Arneri, 1996; Iborra Martin, 2006). Unfortunately, this database is still an under-representation of
An indicator of the overexploitation of the marine resources in the what is happening along the Italian coastline (Alessio Morelli pers.
region is also given by our reconstructed CPUE trend, which steadily comm.) and therefore our reconstruction might not reflect entirely
declined since the early 1950s, while the opposite trend is obtained the situation occurring in the region. Subsistence catches present
if one uses official catch statistics. Some caution should be applied another limitation in terms of an existing fishing sector for which
when interpreting these data. In fact, despite evidence of marine no direct data are available. Specific studies focusing on this com-
resource reductions in Italian waters, it is worth emphasizing how ponent are fundamental in order to improve our estimate of total
high uncertainties still exist for fishing effort (e.g., number of days catch removal of the Italian fisheries.
at sea and the number of observed vessels), particularly for early Unreported discards is another aspect of under-reported
years, and catch data. Unfortunately, at the time this research was resource mortality, and are considered pressing issues for marine
undertaken, no information was available to fill these gaps. Recent conservation and fisheries management (Caddy, 2009; Hall and
efforts have been undertaken regionally to address at least partly Mainprize, 2004). In Italy, studies on discards and by-catch have
this issue (e.g., EVOMED, 2011), and thus further development of increased in recent years, partly due to the implementation of the
this work is required. EU Data Collection Regulation [Commission Regulation (EC) No
Our study highlights the importance of artisanal fisheries in 1639/2001; currently, Data Collection Framework, Council Regu-
Italy, which is similar to other parts of the Mediterranean (Coll et al., lation (EC) No 199/2008] and partly also to the establishment of
2014; Piroddi et al., 2011; Tudela 2004; Ulman et al., 2013). How- the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) (Garcia, 2003; Tsagarakis
ever, while artisanal fisheries had the largest number of vessels et al., 2013). However, limited studies still exist or have been found
146 C. Piroddi et al. / Fisheries Research 172 (2015) 137–147

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