North Aegean Sea - Exploitation

The relatively high productivity of the area is reflected in its high fisheries catch which represents 30% of the Greek landings. The fishing activity is dynamic and intense in the North Aegean Sea (Tsagarakis et al. 2010). There are more than 60 bottom trawlers, 40 purse-seiners and 1080 artisanal boats registered in the ports of the area, while other boats also often operate in the area. Small pelagic fish (anchovy and sardine, Engraulis encrasicolus and Sardina pilchardus) dominate the landings of the area and are mainly caught by purse seiners. Trawls primarily target European hake (Merluccius merluccius), red mullets (Mullus barbatus), commercial shrimps (Parapenaeus longirostris), and cephalopods (such as Octopus vulgaris and Eledone spp.). Artisanal boats use several fishing gears targeting different species: long lines target mostly hake and large pelagic fish (e.g. bluefin tuna Thynnus thunnus), while static nets target a large number of demersal and pelagic species (e.g. cephalopods, medium pelagic fish, mullets). An important pot fishery targeting octopuses also exists in the area and operates exclusively in shallow waters. Several stocks are considered fully exploited, while the probability of the ecosystem being sustainably fished is low. Total catch has been relatively constant over the recent years.

Management measures include closed fishing periods (during winter for purse seines and during summer for bottom trawls), spatial restrictions related to the distance from the coast and/or specific depths, minimum landing sizes and technical measures (e.g. mesh size) which vary among fishing gears. Pelagic trawls are banned according to Greek legislation and bottom trawlers are not allowed to land more than 5% of pelagic species.