Francesco De Carlo

Società cooperativa r.l. Aplysia · Fisheries

Professional fishery plays a crucial role in the development of the Tuscan economy. Currently, this sector involves more than 1500 people and 583 boats, producing around 11,000 tonnes/year of seafood products. Fishery in Tuscany is a multifaceted sector with solid cultural baseline that over the years has changed its own relationship with the sea....

In the Mediterranean Sea, the blackbellied angler, Lophius budegassa Spinola, 1807, represents a relevant fraction of the commercial by-catch of bottom trawling and small-scale fisheries that use passive gears (e.g., set nets, bottom longlines, etc.). Despite its importance, there are no comprehensive studies on the population dynamics of this spec...

Three specimens of Silver John dory, Zenopsis conchifer, (Lowe, 1852) were observed for the first time in the Ligurian Sea and northern Tyrrhenian Sea (western Mediterranean), one in 2020 and two in 2021. This is the fifth record (up to ten individuals) of Z. conchifer in the Mediterranean Sea, which occurred 11 years after the last observation in...

In the Mediterranean, experiments and technical measures aimed at improving the selectivity of bottom trawl nets mostly concern modifications to the codend. Grids have been tested in various areas, but have not been adopted for management purposes so far. The present study aims to evaluate whether the adoption of diamond meshes turned by 90° (T90 c...

The Mediterranean Sea has a long-lasting history of fishery exploitation that, together with other anthropogenic impacts, has led to declines in several marine organisms. In particular, elasmobranch populations have been severely impacted, with drastic decreases in abundance and species diversity. Based on their experience, fishers can provide info...

Mean temperature (MTC) and mean trophic level (MTL) spatiotemporal patterns of MEDITS survey catches were examined in 13 geographic statistical areas (GSAs) of the Mediterranean between 1994 and 2016. The study aimed to detect changes in the demersal community structure related to anthropogenic impacts. A generalized additive modelling approach was...

This study aimed to test the effectiveness of a “guarding net”, a device placed at the bottom of a trammel net, for reducing unwanted catches in the caramote prawn trammel net fishery of the Ligurian Sea. This specialized and profitable fishery is affected by unwanted catches that generate high discard rates and damage to the nets, with environment...

The use of artificial lights on the headline of the trawl net seems to be effective in reducing the capture of Merluccius merluccius under the Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS) in the fishery targeting deep-water rose shrimp. The use of artificial lights placed on the trawl net can be a simple and economical solution to reduce unwanted cat...

The estimated impact of the EU Landing Obligation was investigated, which bans discards of regulated species, in South European fisheries through stakeholders' perceptions with the intention to identify implementation shortcomings and practicalities that might lead to obstacles to enforcement. Structured interviews were conducted with 173 fishers i...

The development of low impact and fuel efficient (LIFE) fishing is being paid growing attention. Pot fishing has lower environmental impact and fuel consumption than most other fishing methods. However, pots typically have low capture efficiency for most ground-fish species, and efforts to develop effective commercial pots are needed. Bycatch of re...

It is well established that increasing mesh number in the circumference of a diamond-mesh trawl codend can reduce size selection for round fish, whereas selection for flat fish species is unaffected. This effect has also been documented in Mediterranean trawl fisheries. In contrast, no information is available with regard to the effect of increasin...

Relationship between selection parameters (L50 and SR) and codend catch weight based on the model (6) for solenette. The continuous black line indicates predicted mean values; dashed black lines indicate 95% confidence intervals (CI) based on total variation (variation of mean estimated value and between-haul variation); Grey points represent indiv...

Relationship between selection parameters (L50 and SR) and codend catch weight based on the model (5) for red mullet. The continuous black line indicates predicted mean values; dashed black lines indicate 95% confidence intervals (CI) based on total variation (variation of mean estimated value and between-haul variation); Grey points represent indi...

Relationship between selection parameters (L50 and SR) and codend catch weight based on the model (6) for Mediterranean scaldfish. The continuous black line indicates predicted mean values; dashed black lines indicate 95% confidence intervals (CI) based on total variation (variation of mean estimated value and between-haul variation); Grey points r...

The catch performance of a traditional Ligurian boat seine, which is not in line with the European Union regulation, was compared with an experimental surrounding net without the purse line as a potential legal alternative. The relative catch performance between the two gear types was assessed using a new catch comparison method requiring neither p...

An evaluation of national discards programs has been done by identifying all potential loopholes in methodology. Different technical and environmental factors that influence discard rates have been identified and summarized. Furthermore, selective properties of demersal and pelagic trawls have been summarized in relation with the MLS and landing ob...

In the period June 2013 - March 2014, 53 surveys have been carried out on board of commercial mid-water pelagic pair trawlers for a total of 202 hauls monitored in the Middle Adriatic Sea. The ports of embarkation were: Giulianova, San Benedetto del Tronto, Ancona and Cesenatico. The main bycatch species fished were represented by some species of e...

Questo studio è stato condotto con il contributo del Ministero per le Politiche Agricole e Forestali, Direzione Generale della Pesca e dell'Acquacoltura, esso non riflette necessariamente il punto di vista dell'Amministrazione e non anticipa in alcun modo le future decisioni gestionali. Il presente volume non è una pubblicazione e pertanto l'utiliz...

Valutazione delle catture accidentali di specie protette nel traino pelagico (BYCATCH 2012-2013)

Matching the size of fishing gear to the size of the engine power of the vessel is a recurring issue in trawl fisheries. The mismatching between trawl gear size and engine power may entail high fuel consumption and overload the main engine, resulting in a non-efficient fishing activity. Bollard pull tests and some empirical models coming from scien...

Rapporto finale Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali (Progetto Messa a punto del sistema di monitoraggio annuale dello stato dei molluschi bivalvi oggetto di sfruttamento mediante draga idraulica): 61 pp.

Small driftnets of limited length and relatively small mesh size to catch small/medium sized species have been used for generations by many artisanal fleets along the Mediterranean coasts, without major environmental concerns. Problems started in the late 70s-80s when the use of driftnets with larger meshes and much greater overall size targeting m...

An experimental surrounding net without purse line and particular fish pots have been compared to the traditional fishing gear in terms of performance and physical seabed impact. Boat seine has been the most efficient fishing gear in catch quantities (estimated in kilograms per hour) with an average of 70 kg/h, significantly higher than that obtain...

Bycatch is one of the main sources of anthropogenic mortality of species of conservation concern worldwide. Between January 2011 and May 2012, ISPRA coordinated a monitoring programme of cetacean bycatch in Italian pelagic trawlers (BYCATCH III extension 2011), funded in compliance with the Regulation (EC) No.812/2004. Other 3 partners participated...

Technical specifications, including attachments to and rigging, of trawl gears used in different Mediterranean fisheries (benthic, demersal and pelagic) with attention, in particular, to the maximum and minimum dimensions of headline, footrope, circumference or perimeter at various levels of the net (e.g. codend sensu-stricto, extension piece, bait...

A new tool has been developed with the aim of collecting information on fishing trawl gears. All the collected elements can contribute to study and limit the fishing effort as well as to minimize the environmental impact of fishing gears. Information can be useful also to evaluate the potential harvesting pattern of different gears in terms of expl...

By-catch during fishing operations represents one of the major threats to the survival and to the decline of endangered species (Fortuna et al., 2010a). All cetaceans and most sea turtles are protected by European legislation (Fortuna et al., 2010a). EC Regulation 812/2004 imposes that EU Member States establish a system to monitor accidental captu...

The increased sensibility of the International scientific community toward the exploitation of fishery resources, promoted the development of new technologies to study the behaviour and the impact of fishing gears on seabed. In the last ten years the physical disturbances caused by trawling has been widely investigated by using the sidescan sonar t...

A new fuel consumption monitoring system was set up for research purpose in order to evaluate the energy performance of fishing vessels under different operating conditions. The system has been tested on two semi-pelagic pair trawlers in the Adriatic Sea with an engine power of around 900kW, and with length overall of around 30m. Both vessels work...

Evaluation of the accidental by-catch of protected species in pair-boat trawling fisheries (BYCATCH III.bis)

“Assessment of the incidental captures of protected species in the pelagic trawl (BYCATCH III)”. Bycatch is still one of the main sources of anthropogenic mortality of species of conservation concern worldwide. Within the European Community, Member States are required to monitor and mitigate it, in order to insure a truly sustainable use of the mar...

Thirteen participants worked together to develop new gears/fishing techniques that have a lower impact on benthic habitats, to quantify the potential reduction of the physical impact as well as the negative effects on benthic communities, to weigh the socio-economic consequences of these changes against those of alternative management measures, e.g...

Project “Energy Saving in Fisheries” (ESIF) aimed at investigating potential technical and operational methods to address the need to reduce energy consumption and associated costs in European fisheries. The study started with an inventory of potential technical solutions and ongoing projects in the participating member states. The economic perform...

Please note that the English has not been revised. Each contributor is responsible for the accuracy of her/his language, data and released information. For any clarification, please, refer to each of the indicated persons/organisations. SC/62/ProgRepItaly

A fuel monitoring system has been tested on two boats of semi-pelagic pair trawlers in the Central Adriatic Sea. The system named CorFu meter (CorFu-m), conceived at CNR-ISMAR Ancona (Italy), consists of two mass flow sensors, one Multi Channel Recorder and one GPS data logger. The range of the engine power of the selected vessels is 1000-1200 HP,...