Valutazione preliminare dell’impatto degli attrezzi a strascico sulla integrità del fondale marino sulla base di stime di longevità di specie epimegabentoniche

Abstract

In the frame of the Italian application of the Marine Strategy (MSFD) for Descriptor 6 (Seabed Integrity), the spatial extent of benthic habitats subject to abrasion by fishing gear and the related impact on the status of the epimegabenthic communities inhabiting them were assessed. The analysis focused on Epimegabenthos data collected in the Adriatic Sea between 2016 and 2021, on different habitats subjected to different fishing pressures. For the quantitative assessment of the impact on the seafloor due to fishing abrasion, the Relative Benthic Status (RBS) model was adopted that takes into account the fishing effort (as Swept Area Ratio), the Epimegafaunal biomass, the recovery rate to fishing physical disturbance (as median longevity) and the depletion rate that is gear specific. The study area showed low median longevity values and relative high average RBS values per habitat that seem to follow the fishing effort intensity distribution.