Adriatic Sea (North Central)

Originally based on small artisanal fleets, fishing is now mainly industrialized where trawling (bottom, beam, mid- water), purse seines, gillnets and troll baits target both benthic and pelagic fish and invertebrates. Landings increased to the mid 80s, then progressively declined. The ecosystem is becoming less productive and degraded due to expanding fishing effort and climatic anomalies, including a decrease of primary production. IndiSeas indicators highlight this degradation with very low values for 2003-2005. Both short and long trend analyses show declines. However, there is a recent increase in the trophic level of landings, reflecting the expansion of the fishery towards benthic invertebrates (bivalves, mantis shrimp, Norway lobster) and the exhaustion of small pelagic fish (mainly sardine, anchovy). This is not due to a recovery of the ecosystem.