ABSTRACT Mediterranean coastal lagoons

The Mediterranean region hosts around 400 coastal lagoons, covering a surface of over 641 000 ha differing in both their typology and use. Fisheries and various forms of aquaculture have been traditionally carried out in Mediterranean coastal lagoons since ancient times and are part of the cultural heritage of the region. Traditional lagoon management linked to extensive aquaculture and fish harvesting has certainly contributed, over time, to preserve these peculiar ecosystems, although much of the coastal lagoon areas have progressively disappeared due to land reclamation and other uses.

Recently, coastal lagoons have become a relevant environmental concern: land claiming, pollution and the lack of management, among other factors, have strongly modified both the structure and functioning of these sensitive coastal ecosystems. In particular, the management of traditional aquaculture and capture fisheries activities has been identified as the main instrument to maintain lagoons’ ecological features and to prevent the degradation of their sensitive habitats, both from an environmental and socioeconomic point of view. To guarantee the sustainability of aquaculture and capture fisheries in lagoons, proper management plans should be established so as to ensure the preservation of both biodiversity and local knowledge. This should also be considered as a fundamental pillar for any programme aiming at the preservation and restoration of lagoons’ environment.

This volume is divided into three main sections. The first part of the document (Part 1) gives an overview of the general context, with particular reference to the LaMed project carried out within the activities of the GFCM Committee on Aquaculture (CAQ) and to the main conclusions of an ad hoc expert meeting held in 2011, and presents a review of Mediterranean coastal lagoons summarizing the information obtained from literature and from country reports compiled within the project activities. In the second part (Part 2), eleven country reports collected from Albania, Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey are fully presented and offer an updated review of the state of Mediterranean coastal lagoons and of interactions among aquaculture, capture fisheries and the environment. Finally, five case studies are presented in the third part of the document (Part 3). These works have been selected by some of the experts of the LaMed project and provide insights on: 1) the lagoon of Venice, the most exhaustively studied coastal lagoon in the whole Mediterranean; 2) the Donana area, an interesting example of productive wetlands dedicated to sustainable aquaculture in Spain; 3) the state of the European eel resource and its exploitation and elements for the preparation of a common management plan in the GFCM area; 4) the status of advice and management of European eel towards a stock-wide assessment and; 5) the indicators on the sustainability of Mediterranean coastal lagoons.

 

 

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Cataudella S., Crosetti D., Massa F. (eds).
Mediterranean coastal lagoons: sustainable management and interactions among aquaculture, capture fisheries and the environment
Studies and Reviews. General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. No 95. Rome, FAO. 2015. 278 pp.