Spanish project analyzes fishing impact on the seabed

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Spain has launched the 'IMPACTOS 2024' project, which studies the environmental status of seabed habitats affected by fishing activity purposes and the ones that are not.

Precisely, this campaign focused on the deep zone of the Bay of Biscay, where the continental shelf is studied up to a depth of 200 meters. The oceanographic vessel Emma Bardán hosted the expedition.

Researchers collected sediment and organism samples using bottom trawl gear and underwater robots. This way, the potential environmental impacts of fishing gear will be known, and a routine monitoring of the status of seabed habitats in the main fishing grounds will be established.

Thanks to the agreement between the General Secretariat of Fisheries and the AZTI Foundation, the ministry's fishing research vessels and equipment are provided for this kind of projects.

The Spanish vessels

The oceanographic vessels Emma Bardán, Miguel Oliver, and Vizconde de Eza carry out over 500 research days annually in campaigns at both national and international levels.

Both are equipped with laboratories and a design that minimizes noise and vibrations, allowing for acquiring high-quality acoustic data for fisheries research.

Last week, the Miguel Oliver vessel initiated the 'MEDITS_ES_2024' campaign to evaluate the fishery resources in the western Mediterranean.