Temporary ban on the practice of fishing on the Condor bank brings more advantages than disadvantages
The temporary ban on the practice of fishing on the Condor bank, a seamount located southwest of the island of Faial, about 10 miles off the coast, brings s more advantages than disadvantages.
This is the assessment made by the Regional Under Secretary of Fishing, Marcelo Pamplona, on Wednesday in Horta where Department of Oceanography and Fisheries (DOP) of the University of the Azores presented the results concerning a fisheries research that is being carried out on the Condor bank.
Speaking to journalists after the presentation, Marcelo Pamplona said that, with the approval of the Faial Fishers’ Association, the Condor bank was closed to the practice of fishing for two years so that the DOP may conduct studies on marine biology in the entire water column.
As he explained, the goal is to understand how the reproduction mechanisms of that marine habitat work, which is now being studied in-depth by the DOP. The project needs to be evaluated in order to know what benefits this temporary prohibition brings to that protected marine area.
For Marcelo Pamplona, it is important to know the advantages to be derived from the creation of small protected areas that allow the reproduction and the emergence of certain species so that the practice of fishing may be enhanced, ensuring its future sustainability.
According to an Ordinance issued by the Regional Under Secretary of Fishing, the practice of fishing on the Condor bank – except in authorised cases – was temporarily forbidden from June 1, 2010 to April 30, 2012 to ensure the implementation and completion of the project “Observatory for the long-term study and monitoring of ecosystems and seamounts in the Azores – CONDOR.”
Under this multidisciplinary project, which is coordinated by the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries of the University of the Azores, a scientific station for permanent observation will be installed on the Condor bank, being considered “relevant to the knowledge about that marine area.”
In addition to the surveying the entire fauna in that area, from bacteria to whales, the project also comprises diverse areas, such as oceanography, microbiology, ecology, habitat mapping and fisheries.
The campaign undertaken on the Condor Bank adds up to a total of 97 days at sea throughout 2009 and 2010, involving the research vessels “Arquipélago,” “Noruega,” and “Gago Coutinho” as well as the underwater remotely operated vehicles “Águas Vivas” and “Luso.”