Red coral populations have come close to disappearing in some areas due to excessive fishing pressure.
The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has published a report presenting the results of the red coral research programme carried out between 2020 and 2023 and funded by the European Union.
Over the course of these two years, research institutes and universities, in cooperation with the national administrations of several Mediterranean countries, conducted research on red coral to improve knowledge of the species and strengthen the management of red coral fisheries in the region.
The report includes data collected in Croatia, France, Greece, Italy and Tunisia on the population genetics of red coral, as well as the socioeconomic dimensions of its harvesting. It also provides information on training and capacity-building activities carried out in other partner countries, including Algeria, Malta and Morocco.
"The research programme enabled data collection on the status of red coral stocks, including colony demographic structures, catches by fishing ground, observer data, socioeconomic aspects, growth and habitat conditions, providing valuable knowledge to managers and fishers," said Adel Gaamour, researcher at the National Institute of Marine Sciences and Technologies of Tunisia.
Consequently, the programme's findings have supported the development and adoption of a GFCM recommendation on long-term measures for the sustainable exploitation of red coral, with positive outcomes already being observed, according to the FAO.
"From a practical point of view, it enabled us to develop protocols —both for molecular analysis and data analysis— that can be used in the future by these countries for the management and conservation of this species,· explained Federica Costantini, Associate Professor of Marine Ecology at the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences (BiGeA) of the University of Bologna, Italy.
Furthermore, thanks to this initiative, Tunisia is currently developing a regulatory framework to manage red coral fisheries, including provisions on authorized fishing areas, permitted fishing gear and the minimum harvestable size.
"In parallel, we have developed an operational manual for the harvesting and marketing of red coral, in close collaboration with specialized divers, relevant ministries, fisheries authorities, observers and inspectors to promote sustainable exploitation and ensure the effective implementation of the new regulatory framework," explained Gaamour.