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October 1, 2012

Researching the effects of bottom trawling in Faro

BY: Silvia García

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These days (September 29 and 30 and October 1st) we have been working in Faro, collaborating in a project about the effects of sea bottom trawling coordinated by the Algarve University. During the three days we have been filming the bottom opposite Faro, we have had two members of the project on board – Paulo Jorge Menano Ribeiro da Fonseca, from the Algarve University, and Rui Pedro Silva Vieira, from Aveiro University.

The works are part of a project to determine the effects of trawling fisheries, the most destructive gear that exists, on the seabed opposite to Portugal Southern coast. Oceana takes part by providing images that complement other campaigns that are being developed in order to take samples of the bottom –trawled and not trawled ones- aiming to make a comparative study. This three days results have been very positive, since we have obtained aover 15 hours of footage of awesome fields of crinoids, deep-sea corals, polychaetes communities and also the major figures of these days –Norway lobsters and several shrimp species showing funny behaviours to camera, going in and out their galleries and reacting to the presence of the ROV.