Pesca submarina en las islas Canarias: ¿es el león tan fiero como lo pintan?

Abstract

Spearfishing is traditionally recognized as catching spawners of species with a top trophic position that are slow-growing and highly vulnerable. This study is the first empirical research in the Canary Islands quantifying this activity's pressure and impact with real catch information.The mean fishing effort by fisher is 6 days per annum at sea, with a mean yield of 390 g/fisher*hour. These figures outcome an estimate of 39 700 total days per annum at sea and a total annual catch (41.7 t) being 0.28% of professional sector landings. Average trophic level and Intrinsic Vulnerability Index in the catch are 3.24 and 45.72 respectively. Sparisoma cretense, a fast growing fish, with a mid-trophic level and not such a vulnerable species, is at the top of spearfishing catches. The sector is described socioeconomically by questionnaires (n=179). Results represent a baseline and foundation for the sector management. No evidence has been found to justify the current spatially restricted access of spearfishing to resources.