Good and bad news
- Details
- Written by Jelena Belamarić
In most world’s fishing zones, the Croatian Adriatic being no exception, fish populations seem to be doomed - in not such a distant future - if we continue with the equal fishing pressure. The immediate consequences will include the bankruptcy of fisheries and economies of many sea bound (coastal) countries. Highly recognized world experts for seas, such as dr. Sylvia Earle stress that we have already eaten 90% at least of the world fish stock.
Croatian public has been lately un-proportionally focused on the contradictions around the Protected Ecological Fishing Zone (ZERP). No matter how important this issue is, the most intensive exploitation and consequential degradation of our marine ecosystems is, obviously, taking place within Croatian territorial waters – within 12 nautical miles from the coast of Croatian outer islands - that being the very area which makes our Adriatic a true jewel. In spite of the nice reputation, the Adriatic marine ecosystems are far from being "unspoiled". In the Adriatic underwater, an original, natural "zero state# does not exist any more (meaning so called "climax communities" in which all populations are present in long term balanced sizes and proportions - Figure 5.
The first noticeable phase of degradation of marine ecosystems is a diminished size of population and of individual size of many larger species, especially those at the top of the food chains. (Belamarić, 1987, 1994).
Bad news:The quantity and size of certain commercial bottom fish and Crustacean and Mollusc species in the Adriatic are significantly (if not shockingly) diminished, compared to the seventies, even within Croatian marine national parks - and we should not blame the "wandering" Italian fishermen for that. I became convinced of that during my long term diving observations and research in marine ecosystems of Kornati archipelago and of the islands of Mljet, Lokrum, Dugi Otok, Hvar, Vis, Biševo - and elsewhere.
An example: thirty years ago, I used to encounter on every underwater cliff of Kornati islands, during a single dive, several large lobsters (more then a kilo) and many others of a different size. During my dives in last five years, I have not seen one single lobster, not even a "baby" one. In recent years only the connoisseurs catch the capital lobsters on the top-secret positions in great depths using coops (read about the king of lobsters in "Morsko prase" ).
Good news: The quality and transparency of the sea water, in outer islands part of the Croatian Adriatic has not changed noticeably during the last thirty years. The quantity and size of non commercial invertebrates such as various species of sponges, corals, echinoderms and others, have changed very little, if at all (but the same certainly could not be said about the undersea in the vicinity of larger island cities and tourist settlements as well as along the coastline of the Croatian mainland).
Concerning the stock of Adriatic small pelagic fish, there is a certain disagreement among the fishermen themselves and the fishermen and the scientists, but they all agree there is still enough of it around.
The commercial invertebrate species: red coral Corallium rubrum and Adriatic sponge Euspongia officinalis make a special case; the red coral has been depleted at accessible diving depths down to 60m even before the seventies, thus in the last couple of decades there are only a few coral divers and they must dive for corals down to life risking depths. The Adriatic sponge is somewhat depleted at certain frequented locations but in the underwater holes and smaller caves, especially in the National Park Kornati, one can see some large and beautiful individuals.
