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reason they generally report illegal activities that impact on the environment to the competent
authorities.

Boat excursions are among the most impacting yet economically important tourist business in the
Egadi Islands. This activity is concentrated from April to October with a peak in the summer months
and is made up of (1) small private boats owned by tourists, (2) small boats hired from local residents,
(3) large boats coming from Trapani and hosting up to about 100 passengers for one-day trips that
make several stops at the most attractive spots that include sensitive habitats like e.g. the coastal caves
in Marettimo. The boating business has grown to such a point that it is now regulated the MPA
management body: a limit to the number of authorized boats and to the amount of passengers has been
set in order to reduce the impact on the marine environment. Moreover, several mooring buoy fields
have been established around the islands to reduce the impact of anchors on the sea bottom. The buoy
fields can be used after a payment of a ticket to the MPA.
Most interviewees expressed strong opinions - generally negative - on this boating issue, especially
against the activity of the larger boats. These are thought to conflict with the environment through
waste, noise and disturb caused to the marine biota along the coast and into the caves. Also local
residents who rent their small boats suffer the strong competition from the big charterers: people from
Marettimo feel already damaged by the presence of the A zone and by the geographical isolation, and
would like to have exclusive rights on the guided tours around their island. Generally passengers of
the large boats have a meal on board, so they do not land on the shore and as a result they do not
contribute to the local economy. The buoy fields are generally regarded positively as the Egadi ports
are small and cannot host all the boats arriving from mainland Sicily, although most tourists arriving
with their own boats do not even know of the existence of the fields and anchor everywhere with the
risk of impacting sensitive habitat such as Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows.

Fisheries and tourism
Generally speaking professional fishers look with interest at those tourist-related activities
(pescaturismo, boat trips, boat rental, fish retailing on the wharf, house rental) which produce an
increase in their revenues. From this point of view no conflict seems to occur between fisheries and
tourism. A totally different feeling arises when the topic moves to recreational fishing. While some
interviewees feel that spearfishing, angling and limpet and urchin collection should be allowed in a
regulated way to residents, others (namely the fishermen) appreciate the current ban because they
request to be allowed to fish inside the MPA in an exclusive way. Others suggests to individuate some
areas inside the MPA dedicated to recreational fishing to avoid conflicts with professional fishermen.
Overall the main conflict is generated by two illegal activities sometimes carried out by recreational
fishermen: (1) higher recreational catches than allowed by the law (individual daily quota: 5 kg), (2)
recreational fishermen selling their fish, what’s more at a low price. Both conducts are strongly
blamed by professional fishers as unfair competition

Wherever possible, please describe the conflicts in the competition for sea space and related impacts in
accordance with the following eight categories:
• Extractive use of living marine resources (e.g. fishing)
See primary and secondary conflicts above descripted.
• Extractive use of non-living marine resources (e.g. aggregate extraction, oil-and-gas
exploration)
The Egadi archipelago has been for years an area of great interest for the exploration and
extraction of non-living marine resources like oil and gas. The first conflict generated by such
use is the subtraction of space to other activities like fishing, but there is also a strong risk for
the biodiversity and integrity of the marine environment. Because of this, some interviewees
declared their contrariety to any exploration. They also showed apprehension due to the
influence that powerful companies might have on the political decisions related to the
management of the extractive use of non-living resources. Some interviewees were worried
about recent authorization to air gun exploration in two large areas close to the MPA (Fig. 6)
favoured by an Italian government measure called “Environmental corrective” (15/06/2012),
which prohibits any prospecting, exploration and extraction of gas and oil within 12 miles

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