Chapter 13
Evolving from Fry Fisheries to Early Life
Research on Pelagic Fish Resources
Alberto García, Raúl Laíz-Carrión, Dolores Cortés, José Quintanilla,
Amaya Uriarte, Teodoro Ramírez, Lidia Yebra, Jesús M. Mercado,
Candela García-Gómez, Simone Sammartino, and Jesús García Lafuente
13.1 Brief Historical Background of Fry Fisheries
in Northern Alboran Sea
The northern coasts of the Alboran Sea are known to have thrived from past artisanal
fisheries that exploited the early life stages of fishes. This was mainly carried out by a
suite of different fishing gears dating back to the eighteenth century to the end of the
twentieth century (Sañez-Reguart 1791–1795 reprint 1988; Rodríguez Santamaría
1923). These fishery studies provide detailed descriptions of the fishing gears
employed by fishermen exploiting the Iberian Peninsula coasts and a general account
of the targeted species and their associated catches. In the Andalusian coasts of the
Alboran Sea, beach seines called boliches were among the most common, targeting
on sardines, anchovies, and a number of other fish species, as bonitos and tunas that
preyed on small pelagic shoals (Fig. 13.1).
In this historical description, the Bay of Malaga is cited as most prolific in the use
of this specific fishing gears exploiting nearshore fish resources of northern Alboran
(Rodríguez Santamaría 1923) (Fig. 13.1). These fishing gears continued until the
twentieth century and evolved reducing its size to allow the maneuvering with a
smaller number of persons. Through time, this gear was modified for the fry fishing
of small pelagic species. Its modifications mainly consisted in gradually diminishing
the mesh of cod ends for catching postlarval stages of sardines and anchovies,
A. García (*) · R. Laíz-Carrión · J. Quintanilla · A. Uriarte · T. Ramírez · L. Yebra ·
J. M. Mercado
Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Málaga, Fuengirola (Málaga),
Spain
e-mail: raul.laiz@ieo.es; jose.quintanilla@ieo.es; teodoro.ramirez@ieo.es; lidia.yebra@ieo.es;
jesus.mercado@ieo.es
D. Cortés · C. García-Gómez · S. Sammartino · J. G. Lafuente
Physical Oceanography Group, University of Málaga, Málaga, Spain
e-mail: ssammartino@ctima.uma.es; glafuente@ctima.uma.es
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. C. Báez et al. (eds.), Alboran Sea - Ecosystems and Marine Resources,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65516-7_13
489
Evolving from Fry Fisheries to Early Life
Research on Pelagic Fish Resources
Alberto García, Raúl Laíz-Carrión, Dolores Cortés, José Quintanilla,
Amaya Uriarte, Teodoro Ramírez, Lidia Yebra, Jesús M. Mercado,
Candela García-Gómez, Simone Sammartino, and Jesús García Lafuente
13.1 Brief Historical Background of Fry Fisheries
in Northern Alboran Sea
The northern coasts of the Alboran Sea are known to have thrived from past artisanal
fisheries that exploited the early life stages of fishes. This was mainly carried out by a
suite of different fishing gears dating back to the eighteenth century to the end of the
twentieth century (Sañez-Reguart 1791–1795 reprint 1988; Rodríguez Santamaría
1923). These fishery studies provide detailed descriptions of the fishing gears
employed by fishermen exploiting the Iberian Peninsula coasts and a general account
of the targeted species and their associated catches. In the Andalusian coasts of the
Alboran Sea, beach seines called boliches were among the most common, targeting
on sardines, anchovies, and a number of other fish species, as bonitos and tunas that
preyed on small pelagic shoals (Fig. 13.1).
In this historical description, the Bay of Malaga is cited as most prolific in the use
of this specific fishing gears exploiting nearshore fish resources of northern Alboran
(Rodríguez Santamaría 1923) (Fig. 13.1). These fishing gears continued until the
twentieth century and evolved reducing its size to allow the maneuvering with a
smaller number of persons. Through time, this gear was modified for the fry fishing
of small pelagic species. Its modifications mainly consisted in gradually diminishing
the mesh of cod ends for catching postlarval stages of sardines and anchovies,
A. García (*) · R. Laíz-Carrión · J. Quintanilla · A. Uriarte · T. Ramírez · L. Yebra ·
J. M. Mercado
Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Málaga, Fuengirola (Málaga),
Spain
e-mail: raul.laiz@ieo.es; jose.quintanilla@ieo.es; teodoro.ramirez@ieo.es; lidia.yebra@ieo.es;
jesus.mercado@ieo.es
D. Cortés · C. García-Gómez · S. Sammartino · J. G. Lafuente
Physical Oceanography Group, University of Málaga, Málaga, Spain
e-mail: ssammartino@ctima.uma.es; glafuente@ctima.uma.es
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. C. Báez et al. (eds.), Alboran Sea - Ecosystems and Marine Resources,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65516-7_13
489