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• Military activities

Maps of the distribution of different activities can be used here to illustrate the spatial scale of the
conflicts. However, please describe and discuss the conflicts rather than just trying to present and
address them through a matrix, as this general approach has already been followed through WP3.

The implementation of the above listed management measures (sections 2.3) provides, on the paper,
the legislative and management basis to facilitate the achievement of the priority objective. All the
legislations and regulations listed in the section 2.4. interact with the priority objective but, while some
of them are articulated in synergy with it, others generate conflicts with the conservation of the
biodiversity in the Egadi MPA.
The primary conflict in our sub-case study is between fisheries and conservation and between tourism
and conservation while the secondary conflict is between fisheries and tourism.

Fisheries vs conservation
The Egadi Islands host highly productive fishing grounds exploited for a long time by fishermen
coming also from nearby areas. The institution of the Egadi MPA (Decree of 27 Dec 1991) originated
an immediate reaction from trawlers and small-scale fishermen from adjacent harbours (Trapani,
Marsala and Mazara del Vallo) due to the fishing ground reduction caused by the MPA: there was a
strike of trawlers who blocked the activities of the Trapani harbour for days. Fishermen declared that
they had not been involved and informed about the institution of the MPA, obtained a 90-day
suspension of the MPA start and, as a sort of special concession, a D zone open to trawling was
created that included the deep trawling grounds between the three islands, also as a mean for linking
the A-B-C zones around the islands. By the way, a D zone does not exist in any other Italian MPA.
According to the interviews there are contrasting attitudes of local artisanal fishermen towards the
MPA regulations: some are scared that artisanal fishing will undergo further restrictions, some are
very happy because fishers from outside are banned inside the MPA, and some are unhappy because
they state they suffer the current limitations without enjoying any positive outcome. Some artisanal
fishermen who feel “protected” by the MPA against fishermen from the outside do not see any conflict
between conservation and fishery. Concerning possible positive effects of protection on fish
abundance, opinions are discordant.
The most frequent reasons of the fisheries vs. conservation conflict according to the interviews are the
large size of the MPA and the absence of stakeholder involvement. Several interviewees declared that
the area is too large (this is the largest Italian MPA and one of the largest in the Mediterranean) to be
efficiently protected and suggest a re-zonation with a reduction of the protected area. Some members
of fishermen associations attribute the severe reduction (ca. 50%) of the fishing fleet in the last
decades to the presence of large protected areas in the Trapani compartment.
As regards the rumours of a re-zonation, which is officially aimed at releasing the conservation
pressure on Marettimo by decreasing the extension of the current A zone while creating A zones in
Levanzo and Favignana, the interviewees had different feelings: some had a positive and optimistic
attitude while others i.e., artisanal fishermen were much scared to lose their favourite inshore fishing
grounds due to the re-zonation.
The competition for space has also generated a harsh conflict between Egadi and Trapani fishermen
due to the MPA regulations, which allow only to Egadi residents and landlords to fish inside the B and
C zones. The reserve is seen by some stakeholders as a sort of privilege to Egadi residents while
fishers from nearby areas are angry because they have to go farther from the coast to fish in less
productive fishing grounds.
The fishing sector that conflicts most heavily with conservation is trawling, which is allowed only
inside the D zone to trawlers registered in Favignana and Trapani. The main complaint is about the
trawler exclusion from the C zone, which includes some fishing grounds deeper than 50 m that were
exploited especially during the winter time before the MPA. Some interviewees stated that illegal
trawling occurs frequently in the C and even B zones mainly in winter and during the night, with a
heavy impact on coastal fish resources and on seagrass meadows. The enforcement bodies which
patrol the MPA confirmed the existence of illegal trawling and attributed poor enforcement to the lack
of economic and human resources. Some interviewees reported about requests submitted by trawl

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