Acta Adriatica, Vol. 54 No. 1, 2013.
Original scientific paper
Towed underwater television towards the quantification of Norway lobster, squat lobsters and sea pens in the Adriatic Sea
Michela MARTINELLI
; Institute of Marine Sciences (ISMAR) National Research Council (CNR)
Elisabetta Betulla MORELLO
; Present address: CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, GPO Box 2583, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
Igor ISAJLOVIĆ
; Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Šetalište I. Meštrovića 63, 21000 Split, Croatia
Andrea BELARDINELLI
; Institute of Marine Sciences (ISMAR) National Research Council (CNR)
Alessandro LUCCHETTI
; Institute of Marine Sciences (ISMAR) National Research Council (CNR)
Alberto SANTOJANNI
; Institute of Marine Sciences (ISMAR) National Research Council (CNR)
R. James A. ATKINSON
; University Marine Biological Station Millport, Isle of Cumbrae, KA28 0EG, Scotland, U.K.
Nedo VRGOČ
; Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Šetalište I. Meštrovića 63, 21000 Split, Croatia
Enrico ARNERI
; AdriaMed Project, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Roma, Italy
Abstract
Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus, is of great commercial importance throughout the NE Atlantic and Mediterranean, where it lives in burrows within muddy sediments. In several European countries it is assessed by means of towed underwater TV techniques. These are particularly suited to N. norvegicus because, for a number of reasons, the application of common fishery-dependent stock-assessment methods is not thorough for this species. The TV-based methodology relies on the fact that a known surface area of seabed is visually assessed and the number of N. norvegicus burrows, whose features are distinct, can be counted and their inhabitants quantified. It follows that, in theory, the same can be done for other organisms or key ecological features which appear on the footage. This study reports the results of the underwater television surveys (2009 and 2010) carried out jointly by Italy and Croatia in the Pomo/Jabuka pits, an area of the Adriatic Sea important for its N. norvegicus fishery and its hake nursery grounds. The obtained footage allowed quantification of the density of N. norvegicus in the area and the acquisition of estimates of the abundances of the squat lobster, Munida rutllanti and the sea pen Funiculina quadrangularis. The concurrent quantification of trawling activity from the footage has allowed us to place our results in the context of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management.
Keywords
towed UWTV; Norway lobster; squat lobster; sea pen; Adriatic Sea
Hrčak ID:
114310
URI
Publication date:
3.6.2013.
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