PALERMO (ITALPRESS) – An unusual discovery has temporarily interrupted the research activities of the acoustic campaign “MEDIAS 2026”, carried out aboard the motorship “G. Dallaporta”, which involves several personnel units of the Institute for biological resources and marine biotechnology of the National Research Council of Cape Granitola (Cnr-Irbim). During the phases of the biological sampling, in fact, the pelagic network accidentally collected, in the waters in front of Termini Imerese, in the province of Palermo, a huge net deriving of about 4 tons: this network, after its abandonment (transformed therefore in a “ghost network”), had already captured several specimens of fish now in phase of advanced decomposition. With great fatigue the staff of the Cnr-Irbim have worked to separate and carry on board the two networks.
“The dimensions of the drift net were such as to occupy much of the aft area necessary for the sampling activities: it was, therefore, necessary to interrupt the survey and proceed to the disembarkation of the net at the nearest port equipped for the disposal of special waste, that is Palermo”, says Angelo Bonanno, researcher of the Cnr Irbim on board. “The ‘ghost fishing’ (‘ghost fishing’) is the phenomenon for which fishing gear lost, abandoned or accidentally dispersed at sea continue to capture or trap organisms, even if they are no longer controlled by fishermen – explains the director of Cnr-Irbim Gian Marco Luna -. The captured animals can die and become bait for other animals, feeding a cycle of successive catches, while the tools, when they come into contact with the seabed, can damage precious habitats such as rocky seabeds, fanerogam and coralligen prairies. In the Mediterranean Sea the problem is particularly relevant, in the light of the high fishing activities and the great biodiversity, which includes vulnerable species such as turtles, cetaceans and shark elasmobranchi.”.
The team of the Institute, always engaged not only in marine research but also in the protection and conservation of the sea and its resources, has therefore decided to temporarily interrupt the sampling procedures, in accordance with the company Finship owner of the ship, to remove from the sea a dangerous special refusal for marine resources and for the safety of small boats. After contacting the competent authorities to receive information on the disposal procedures, the ship headed towards the port of Palermo where the network was transferred on a suitable means for the subsequent phase of disposal.
The activities of the MEDIAS – Mediterranean International Acoustic Survey campaign, carried out on board the “G. Dallaporta” motorboat owned by the Finship Company, which was awarded the naval vehicle for the execution of the research campaign, provide for the acquisition of acustic data and the biological sampling with a flying network in order to estimate the biomass and the spatial distribution of the fish species of small fishes of greater commercial interest: anchovies. The campaign is included in the Geographical Sub Area 10, an integral part of the National Fisheries Data Collection Programme. The research team includes, for Cnr-Irbim, Angelo Bonanno, Simona Genovese and Giovanni Giacalone. Three PhD students and three students from the University of Messina are on board.
– Cnr press office photos –
(ITALPRESS).
