scholarly journals Quantifying 60 years of declining European eel (Anguilla anguilla L., 1758) fishery yields in Mediterranean coastal lagoons

2015 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilius Aalto ◽  
Fabrizio Capoccioni ◽  
Juan Terradez Mas ◽  
Marcello Schiavina ◽  
Chiara Leone ◽  
...  

Abstract The European eel Anguilla anguilla is thought to be in a multi-decadal decline across its range. Although its northern Atlantic sub-populations are well-studied, little is known about the historical trend and current status of eel stock in the Mediterranean Sea. To fill this gap, we gathered catch data for 86 lagoon fisheries in nine countries across the Mediterranean basin and analysed historical trends and geographical and environmental patterns. We found a region-wide decline in eel catch, beginning in the mid-1970s and exceeding the simultaneous decline in non-eel fisheries, as well as lower productivity in larger lagoons and those in the southern Mediterranean. Additionally, we developed a population dynamics model to provide a preliminary estimate of pristine, potential, and actual escapement of spawning adults (silver eels) across the Mediterranean basin under historical and current conditions. Model results suggest that current escapement is 35% of escapement at pristine biomass levels, <40% target set by EC regulation 1100/2007. Furthermore, we estimate that a complete closure of lagoon fisheries would achieve 57% of pristine escapement under current recruitment levels. Though preliminary, this analysis represents a first step towards a full assessment of the role of the Mediterranean sub-population in overall eel stock recovery.

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
GRZEGORZ MACIOROWSKI ◽  
ANTONIA GALANAKI ◽  
THEODOROS KOMINOS ◽  
MICHALIS DRETAKIS ◽  
PAWEŁ MIRSKI

SummaryThe Greater Spotted Eagle is an extremely rare species which is strongly associated with wetlands during the breeding period. The winter habitats of this vulnerable species have not been extensively studied so far, although eagles spend over one third of the year there, and these are therefore also crucial for the conservation of the species. We investigated the distribution of Greater Spotted Eagle wintering grounds in the Mediterranean Basin on the basis of telemetry data from individuals caught in breeding grounds, detailed species counts during wintering in Greece, and a literature search. We found that at least 300–400 individuals (c.15% of the European population) winter in the Mediterranean Basin, sometimes numbering a few dozen in particular river valleys. Individuals used on average 89.7 km2 home ranges for wintering. The Maxent model of wintering habitats performed with high reliability, indicating that most of the coastline along the Mediterranean Sea and some parts of the Black Sea are suitable for the wintering of this species. The distribution of coastal marshes was the most informative for the model. Compositional analyses done for home ranges of GPS tracked individuals and wintering sites in Greece showed the highest preference for salines and salt marshes but also a high preference for coastal lagoons and water courses. We link wetland preference with the availability of medium size prey, optimal for this species, and prey specialisation common to breeding sites.


Author(s):  
Joshua M. White

This book offers a comprehensive examination of the shape and impact of piracy in the eastern half of the Mediterranean and the Ottoman Empire’s administrative, legal, and diplomatic response. In the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, piracy had a tremendous effect on the formation of international law, the conduct of diplomacy, the articulation of Ottoman imperial and Islamic law, and their application in Ottoman courts. Piracy and Law draws on research in archives and libraries in Istanbul, Venice, Crete, London, and Paris to bring the Ottoman state and Ottoman victims into the story for the first time. It explains why piracy exploded after the 1570s and why the Ottoman state was largely unable to marshal an effective military solution even as it responded dynamically in the spheres of law and diplomacy. By focusing on the Ottoman victims, jurists, and officials who had to contend most with the consequences of piracy, Piracy and Law reveals a broader range of piratical practitioners than the Muslim and Catholic corsairs who have typically been the focus of study and considers their consequences for the Ottoman state and those who traveled through Ottoman waters. This book argues that what made the eastern half of the Mediterranean basin the Ottoman Mediterranean, more than sovereignty or naval supremacy—which was ephemeral—was that it was a legal space. The challenge of piracy helped to define its contours.


Author(s):  
Matthew D. C. Larsen

The concept of textual unfinishedness played a role in a wide variety of cultures and contexts across the Mediterranean basin in antiquity and late antiquity. Chapter 2 documents examples of Greek, Roman, and Jewish writers reflecting explicitly in their own words about unfinished texts. Many writers claimed to have written unfinished texts on purpose for specific cultural reasons, while others claimed to have written texts that slipped out of their hands somehow with their permission.


Author(s):  
Madadh Richey

The alphabet employed by the Phoenicians was the inheritor of a long tradition of alphabetic writing and was itself adapted for use throughout the Mediterranean basin by numerous populations speaking many languages. The present contribution traces the origins of the alphabet in Sinai and the Levant before discussing different alphabetic standardizations in Ugarit and Phoenician Tyre. The complex adaptation of the latter for representation of the Greek language is described in detail, then some brief attention is given to likely—Etruscan and other Italic alphabets—and possible (Iberian and Berber) descendants of the Phoenician alphabet. Finally, it is stressed that current research does not view the Phoenician and other alphabets as inherently simpler, more easily learned, or more democratic than other writing systems. The Phoenician alphabet remains, nevertheless, an impressive technological development worthy, especially by virtue of its generative power, of detailed study ranging from paleographic and orthographic specifications to social and political contextualization.


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