Marine protected areas (MPA) have been established both for biodiversity conservation and under a fisheries management framework. Targeting fisheries sustainability, one of the main expected effects of MPAs is spillover effect. That is, the exportation of commercial species biomass outside the protected areas as a consequence of its increased abundance inside the fishing bans boundaries.The European regulation of Western Mediterranean Multiannual Plan for demersal stock management (2019) stated MPAs should be established for fisheries sustainability. In the Spanish Mediterranean coast, trawling fisheries were banned in a total of 41 new marine protected areas (MPAs), 21 of which are permanent (973 km2) and 16 temporary (6013 km2). After the establishment of MPAs, it remains crucial to correctly reinforce and monitor them to allow an adaptative fisheries management approach based on sound scientific advice. In this work, we present a methodology that combines trawling Vessel Monitoring System data and commercial fishing landings datasets to evaluate spillover effects after the protection of an MPA. After testing the methodology in three MPAs closed for 10 and 5 years there were evidences of spillover effects for some of the most important commercial species. These results validate the methodology used and will allow to expand the data analysis to all the Spanish Mediterranean trawling fleets and closed areas. It is an example of how digital technologies allow marine non-invasive monitoring to work towards the sustainability of marine resources

ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Resilience and Recovery in Aquatic Systems, 4-9 June 2023, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Peer reviewed