AMARYPESCA is a project to study the role of seabirds as an instrument for fisheries and aquaculture management in the context of a sustainable Network of Marine Protected Areas of Spain (RAMPE). This project, coordinated and developed by the University of Barcelona (UB) in collaboration with the Association of Naturalists of the Southeast (ANSE), is supported by the Biodiversity Foundation, the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, through the Pleamar Program, co-financed by the FEMP (European Maritime and Fisheries Fund). Its objective is to assess the suitability of the current RAMPE and establish measures for the management of fisheries and aquaculture and conservation of pelagic and coastal birds in the Canary Islands and the Levante, with specific objectives:
• Detect the main pelagic and coastal birds feeding areas in the Canary Islands and the Levant.
• Analyze the spatial consistency over the years and assess the possible suitability of a dynamic approach in the RAMPE definition.
• Stablish of interaction of seabirds with fish farms and the fishing fleet.
• Disseminate the benefits of RAMPE to fishermen and fish farmers.
• Propose RAMPE management improvements as a conservation tool for pelagic and coastal birds in the Canary Islands and the Levant.
In Murcia, the targets species are the european shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis desmarestii) and Scopoli’s Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea diomedea) as pelagic seabirds. For the other hand, shorebirds are represented by the Audouin’s gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii) and the Yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis). Accordingly, the San Pedro del Pinatar saltworks have been selected as the study area for the GPS monitoring of these two shorebirds species. The project team of the LIFE Salinas has been collaborating with these researchers in the capture and tagging of 18 individuals of the yellow-legged gull and 7 individuals of the Audouin’s gull. Undoubtedly, the information and feeding routes provided by these GPS are more interesting to understand the interaction of these seabirds with fisheries and aquaculture, as well as to establish the role of marine protected areas in their populations. knows their routes in:
https://twitter.com/SeabirdEcology/status/1254753145223368704?s=19
