Specialists in Marine Biology and ecologist organisations are asking the Junta not to back down ofn fishing restrictions off the Punta de La Mona.
This comes after Mayor Juan Jose Ruiz Joya on the 8th of last month, accompanied several members of the Asociación de Pescadores Deportivos de La Costa Tropical, submitted a proposal at the Municipal Registry for the Junta to lift the restrictions in the Punta de La Mona area. This was supported by 3,000 signatures backing the rejection.
Mayor Ruiz Joya at the time pointed out that in a previous Plenary Meeting of the Town Council a motion rejecting the ban was approved, demanding that it be revised and replaced with another law respecting the seabed and environment in line with the Marine Reserve off the Cabo de Gata.
The marine biologist and the conservationists consider that signs of deterioration on the seabed are evident, with fishing line, old nets, fishing hooks, lead weights and other equipment littering the seabed owing to uncontrolled activity which represents a risk to biodiversity in the protected area.
He says that it was a video produced by the University of Granada on the degradation of marine flora and fauna in 2015 which brought about the introduced fishing restrictions off the Punta de La Mona
It took ten years for the Junta to introduce this fishing restriction in the protected area (Zona de Especial Conservación or ZEC)
The Director of the Aula del Mar belonging to the University of Granada, Julio de La Rosa, agrees that “signs of degradation are very evident,” adding, “I understand the fishing community. We all have the right to use natural areas but I do not consider that a step backwards on this should be taken.”
He recalls that the Junta, after divers inspected the sea floor ten years ago, made a list of rubbish and discarded fishing equipment yet much of it is still down there. In fact, he points out that much of it like old fishing nets has become part of the seabed flora and it would cause perhaps more damage trying to remove it.
He concluded that given time the area might recuperate and it might be able to permit fishing in the area again.
Of the same opinion is José Larios, who is the Coordinator of the Asociación Buxus (ecologist organisation) but he also pointed out the damage caused by anglers on land, “On the cliff tops, where there is a wealth of flora and fauna, volunteers on several occasions have swept the area collecting up the litter left by them.”
He concluded by saying that it would be a great pity that in some of the only untouched areas left on the coast, restrictions were rolled back.
(News: Herradura, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)
Keywords: Fishing Restrictions, Punta de La Mona, Ecologists, Marine Biologists, Mayor Ruis Joya, Fishermen’s Association.
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