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fishers to the MPA management body to reduce the trawl ban area and to allow trawling inside the C
zone at >50 m depth: apparently such requests have been debated at different institutional levels but no
modification to the current regulations has been approved to date.
A conflict between recreational fishing and conservation stemmed from the interviews, with some of
the interviewed stakeholders stating that spearfishing should be allowed at least to resident people.
They explained that spearfishing as well as hand collection of limpets and sea urchins (all currently
prohibited inside the MPA) is a traditional, locally well established practice and that for the young
living on the islands the ban on spearfishing represents a problem because they either fish in hidden
localities exposing themselves to a risk or move to the main land for their hobby. Also some
interviewees are well aware that spearfishing is one of the few spare time activities left to the young
and think that some form of regulated recreational fishing should be allowed, maybe in dedicated areas.
Nonetheless other stakeholders are keen to ban all sorts of non-professional resource extraction from
the MPA and demand more patrolling to ensure observance of MPA regulations.

Tourism vs conservation

Most of the Italian legislation and regulations related to MPAs recognize to nature conservation an
“added value” able to diversify tourism economy. The Management Plan “Isole Egadi”, approved
recently for the sustainable use of the Natura 2000 sites, represents a step in this direction. However
tourism can be a double-edged blade that can negatively impact the environment (through e.g.,
discharge from cruise ships, building in coastal areas and increased sewage and waste). According to
most - not all - of the interviewees the tourism in the Egadi is not necessarily linked to the existence
of the MPA. Some stakeholders operating in the tourism sector stated that most tourists do not even
know of the presence of an MPA: they rather come for the beauty of the landscape and seascape, for
the archaeological sites and for the presence of a traditional tuna fishery (“tonnara”). The availability
of low-cost flights to the nearby Birgi airport is also perceived as a strong incentive to tourist traffic.
Some interviewees also think that a more efficient promotion of the MPA could attract more tourists
although an efficient interaction between the MPA and the local tourist operators is still lacking. The
islands have always attracted huge amounts of tourists, especially people from Trapani who come for
one-day trips. Such mass-tourism has involved mainly Favignana and not Levanzo (which is mall and
with limited accommodation facilities) or Marettimo (which is farther offshore and more isolated).
The MPA did not do much to address the impact of mass tourism, which is typically well accepted by
restaurant and hotel owners but is not environmentally sustainable.
The main tourist-related uses of sea in the MPA are (1) pescaturismo (fishing-tourism), (2) scuba
diving and (3) boat excursions.

Pescaturismo is an integrative activity for artisanal fishers introduced by Decree no. 293 of 13 April
1999, which allows tourists to go aboard fishing boats in order to participate to artisanal fishing
operations, thus having a taste of a fisherman’s life. Pescaturismo is allowed in the B, C and D zones
of the MPA and in the A zone only for fishers residing in Marettimo. Some fishers stated that
pescaturismo is a way to integrate their salary in summer, when catches are low and tourists are
numerous. However other fishers complained about bureaucracy costs to obtain the authorization as
well as about the privilege for Marettimo fishers. Pescaturismo is not perceived by interviewees as an
activity conflicting with conservation because artisanal fishing boats can host less than 10 tourists and
selective gears are used.

Underwater excursions in the MPA are strictly regulated and allowed only in a few sites imposed by
the MPA management body. There are two diving centres in Favignana and three in Marettimo.
Neither scuba diving nor snorkelling are permitted without a guide in the A (no-take area) zone. A
diving owner stated that scuba diving is not still an important economic activity in the Egadi despite
the fact that coastal bottoms are among the most beautiful in the Mediterranean. Divers are generally
disappointed by the scarce amount of fish. He also stated that there is no conflict between diving and
conservation due to good management. Diving operators are highly interested in the protection of the
sea as their economy is strictly dependent on the good status of the marine environment. For this

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