Page 14 - HimesAH(2003)

402 A. H. Himes

majority of these positive responses came from fishers from the villages in the interior
of the Gulf, where fishing grounds are the most protected from trawlers that fish the
boundary line. The fact that these fishers responded that their catch has increased due to
the creation of the fishery reserve indicates that the trawling ban has been benefiting the
fishers that fish exclusively inside the reserve. Concurrently, most fishers responded that
they support the trawling ban and want it continue. In fact, fishers overwhelmingly
commented that if the trawling ban is ever lifted, the Gulf fishery will collapse and
small-scale fishing will no longer be economically sustainable.

An outlying case, however, exists in the Gulf of Castellammare. Fishers from Terrasini
reported that their catch has decreased since the creation of the GCFR. While Pipitone et
al. (2000b, 2001) and D’Anna, Badalamenti, and Pipitone (2001) showed that there has
been a dramatic increase in the harvest of almost every species in the Gulf of Castellammare;
they also reported scientific evidence showing that stock density immediately outside
the reserve is significantly lower than that immediately inside the reserve. Looking at its
geographic placement (Figure 1), Terrasini is located to the immediate north of the
reserve boundary. Traditionally, in the context of no-take marine reserves, those not
allowed to participate in the fishery focus fishing efforts along the reserve boundary in
order to catch any spillover of fish biomass that may occur (Johnson, Funicelli, & Bohnsack,
1999). Off the coast of Terrasini, this scenario occurs often due to trawlers from Palermo
who concentrate fishing efforts along the Gulf’s northern boundary, heavily limiting the
amount of fish available to local fishers from Terrasini, thus explaining the lower fish
yields reported by Terrasini fishers.

In comparison, approximately half of fishers in the EIMR indicated that their activi-
ties have been negatively affected by the reserve (Figure 3). Overall, results showed that
fishers have not perceived a negative impact from the reserve, potentially stemming
from the fact that their fishing activities have not had to change overwhelmingly and
because there is no enforcement of reserve regulations. Only in Marettimo is it over-
whelmingly obvious that fishing activities have been negatively affected (100%) by the
presence of the reserve. Those that have not been affected indicated that they are able to
catch more fish with the reserve present. The affected fishers, however, complained that
they now have to go farther from the coast to fish, as in Marettimo, where a no-entry

Figure 3. Responses in the Egadi Islands to the question: Were your fishing activities affected
by the creation of the reserve?