Castilla, whose return to Chile has been delayed due to the earthquake that has ravaged the country, has helped to solve the problem of common property in the southern coastal areas of the country through a system that seeks to grant exclusive exploitation of some areas 200 hectares to the various guilds or “caches” of artisanal fishers, ie whose vessels do not exceed 18 meters. “This way, fishermen undertake to protect this parcel and report their catches. The result is that actively contribute to conservation because the plot is linked to its own economic interests, “says Juan Carlos Castilla.

But before achieving a harmonious model fishing coastal ecosystems have been required ten years of research in the field: between 80 and 90, the team led by Castile met the body of knowledge that Chilean legislation has resulted in fisheries management. “Now I am working with sociologists, because it is essential to involve the fishing communities for the system to work. Similarly, it would be good common formulas to enable all the Cantabrian Sea to involve fishermen in the care of the coast, “he says.

Castilla, who has visited Asturias Chair invited by the Caja Rural del Master in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at the University of Oviedo, has taken the opportunity to exchange ideas and knowledge in the Conference on the Sustainable Management of Artisanal Fisheries. A forum where fishermen have analyzed the situation, managers and scientists as Stefan Gelcich marine biologist and Professor of Ecology at the University of Oviedo Ricardo Anadón. Next to him, several investigators “fishing” in the Bay of Biscay on projects related to the work of Castile. One of them is to investigate where they accumulate and which routes are on the coast larvae organisms characteristic of an ecosystem.

In this line works professor of ecology at the University of Oviedo Jose Luis Acuña: “The protected coastal areas produce an effect known as spillover or overflow effect of feeding larvae to fish and mining areas. And to understand the system must know where the larvae are produced in a marine protected area, “he says.

To help answer this question, Acuna coordinates scientific work on the formation of coastal fronts and their influence on ecosystems. The interest of these fronts is that they act as “means of transport and concentration of larvae in the case of spider crabs, seaweed, mussels, barnacles and other organisms: an aspect that, as stressed by the researcher, is still unexplored.

“One of the focal mechanisms of fronts is the confluence of two streams. When pressed together, the currents generate a convergent flow zone that moves with your cargo larvae to the coast, “said Acuna. Researchers recently have found that addresses the high capacity of fronts to concentrate and carry objects such as buoys and waste.

But besides knowing these “highways larval” of Biscay, the researcher suggests the need to know what the points of departure and destination of the future generations of marine organisms, “if we know which areas are sending and receiving larvae the coast, we get a new knowledge useful to identify certain critical areas for conservation of marine ecosystems Cantabrian “he says. The work falls into the activities of the COAST project, funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, and the FRONTS project, sponsored by the Program on Science, Technology and Innovation through the Principality FICYT.

This scientist is working with professors Asturian Ecology and Genetics Ricardo Anadón Eva Garcia Vazquez, and directs the Masters in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, promoted by the research groups who run both professors at the University of Oviedo. This is a training program that is integrated into the European Master Marine Biodiversity and Conservation and involving five other European universities. That is why future researchers from China, Germany, Bangladesh and Iran, among others, to feel and share ideas in the classrooms of the University of Oviedo with visitors and Castile.

Source:

FICYT / / Laura Alonso

Principality of Asturias