Title:
The Venice Lagoon and Northern Adriatic Ecosystems: Effects of Fishing

Presenter:

Dr. Fabio Pranovi - University of Venice

Abstract:

Here I will present a brief description of the main issues we are researching in the Venice Lagoon and surrounding Seas.  First are the medium terms effects of mechanical dredging on benthic communities (meio and macrofauna).  Associated with that are the recovery dynamics evaluated in relation to two different disturbance intensity (one vs multiple hauls), seasonality (winter vs spring/summer) and iteration of disturbance.  Second we have been examining the spatial distribution of fishing effort, evaluated by using VMS data.  I will present an application from the Northern Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Sea. This will elucidate seasonal patterns, dynamics for different fishing gears, and an application of frequency and exploitation indices. We also explore possible relationships of effort with landings. Finally, I will briefly highlight the morphological plan for the Venice lagoon.  I will present the ecological criteria and analytical tools we have proposed to elaborate guidelines for the various (restoration/conservation) interventions. Spatial ecology, habitat suitability models, and food webs models  (Ecopath vs inverse model) are some of the tools I will demonstrate.