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Gulf of Gabes - Exploitation

A shallow slope, a soft bottom combined with high fish diversity are the ideal conditions for fishing activities. As a result, catches in the Gulf of Gabes are the largest of the whole Tunisia: 40% of Tunisian catches are from the Gulf of Gabes, which is, as a consequence, the most important ecosystem from an economic point of view. The Gulf of Gabes houses 60% of the Tunisian fleet and provides a large quantity of seafood for exportation (DGPA, 2008). About 65% of the catches in the gulf come from the coastal fisheries and benthic trawls. The fishing techniques used in the Gulf of Gabes are very diverse and several gears can be deployed from the same boat. The dominant fishing gears are benthic trawling, gill nets, trammel nets and longlines. The Gulf is well known for its traditional techniques, namely the “pots” and the “Cherfias”. Pots are made of clay and are attached to one another to form long series, They are used to catch octopus and are very selective. “Cherfias” are a kind of fixed fishery made of palm leaves. A “Cherfias” consists of walls of palm leaves embedded in the bottom, forcing fish to concentrate in the “death chamber” consisting of traps.

Since the eighties, the continuous increase in fishing effort and the removal of marine resources resulted in a decline in productivity (Ben Mariem et al. 2005) that marked the beginning of awareness of overexploitation and raised the question of sustainability of the fishing activity. Several indicators suggested a depletion of the ecosystem of the Gulf of Gabes. For example, the yield per hour reached 4 kg beyond 50 meter depth in the 90's while it was 75 kg in the 70’s (Hattour, 1991). In addition, the proportion of discards is quite high with 42% of the catches being discarded, and discards can reach 70% in some areas (Ben Mariem & Gharbi, 1988). There has also been a decline in the size of fish landed. Between 2000 and 2009, commercial catches dropped by 16% (DGPA 2009).

The fishing effort exceeds the optimum by 33% (Missaoui et al. 2001). This is exacerbated by uncontrolled and illegal fishing such as regular incursions of trawlers in areas below the regulated depth (Hattour, 1991) and the use of a prohibited fishing gear called "Kiss". The "Kiss" is a small trawl used at depths generally less than 10m. This is a non-selective and highly destructive gear as it is used on Posidonia meadows.

Studies conducted by the INSTM during resource assessment programs showed that most demersal species exploited in the Gulf of Gabes are overexploited or have reached the maximum exploitation level beyond which the signs of overexploitation will appear (Fiorentino et al, 2008).