aspects (Lackey 2005), including the evolution of fishery management concepts and
old fishery legislations.
The objective of this chapter is to develop these lines of historical-scientifictechnical research for the Alboran Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar, from the sixteenth
century. The living resources include distribution and abundance of several fish and
cetacean species in pelagic and benthos/demersal habitats. Our exposition on human
interactions includes mainly fishermen, consumers and fishery management technicians. The subsequent scientific research work accomplished between 1913 and
2014 in the area by the Oceanographic Centre of Malaga has been described in
other documents (Pérez-Rubín 2011, 2014a, b; Baro and Camiñas 2014; Camiñas
2018).
Data of regional interrelations between both historical and marine sciences are
presented in order to understand the impact of the climate variability and overfishing
in human activity. Furthermore, to identify the most important economically,
socially and culturally important historical fisheries in the entire area, three clear
focal ecosystem components have been established, with the decisive roles of the
Strait of Gibraltar (crossroads of currents and fauna from different areas), the quasipermanent northwestern Alboran Sea upwelling (waters rich in nutrients, with high
planktonic productivity and important concentration of sardines, Sardina
pilchardus, and other pelagic species) and the Bay of Malaga (with anchovy,
Engraulis encrasicolus, and sardine nursery grounds).
The Strait of Gibraltar and adjacent areas are of utmost importance to marine
biodiversity (e.g. Báez et al. in this volume). Both areas (the Ibero-Moroccan Gulf
and the Alboran Sea) have common historical aspects for millennia as they share
oceanographic and meteorological environments and present particular geological,
zoological and botanical characteristics. For that reason, Ramos et al. (2011) proposed the “geohistorical region of the Strait of Gibraltar” as a target study area where
human records have existed since the Pleistocene period.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the relevance of this AtlanticMediterranean transitional area was enshrined during the period 1919–1923 from
the oceanographic and fisheries point of view. The first two intergovernmental
scientific organizations for the study of the Mediterranean (The Mediterranean
Science Commission, CIESM) and the North Atlantic (International Council for
the Exploration of the Sea, ICES) established the areas of the Strait of Gibraltar and
the Gulf of Cadiz as the geographical limits of their respective areas of competence.
French researchers showed the oceanographic and fisheries relationship of the
Alboran Sea and the northeastern Atlantic for the European hake (Merluccius
merluccius), a demersal species, with regard to seasonal variations in spawning
areas and preferred period for fishing (Le Danois 1920). Unlike for the pelagic
sardine, it was proposed that in the region of the Strait of Gibraltar, the two supposed
Atlantic breeds were not mixed: to the south the Moroccan and to the north the
common for the Gulf of Cadiz and north Alboran Sea (Furnestin 1948).
In addition, the studies carried out during the last decades on the historical
fisheries of the Alboran Sea have confirmed the importance of this “border sea” as
a transitional area in the Iberian Peninsula, between the waters of the Atlantic and the
776
J. Pérez-Rubín
old fishery legislations.
The objective of this chapter is to develop these lines of historical-scientifictechnical research for the Alboran Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar, from the sixteenth
century. The living resources include distribution and abundance of several fish and
cetacean species in pelagic and benthos/demersal habitats. Our exposition on human
interactions includes mainly fishermen, consumers and fishery management technicians. The subsequent scientific research work accomplished between 1913 and
2014 in the area by the Oceanographic Centre of Malaga has been described in
other documents (Pérez-Rubín 2011, 2014a, b; Baro and Camiñas 2014; Camiñas
2018).
Data of regional interrelations between both historical and marine sciences are
presented in order to understand the impact of the climate variability and overfishing
in human activity. Furthermore, to identify the most important economically,
socially and culturally important historical fisheries in the entire area, three clear
focal ecosystem components have been established, with the decisive roles of the
Strait of Gibraltar (crossroads of currents and fauna from different areas), the quasipermanent northwestern Alboran Sea upwelling (waters rich in nutrients, with high
planktonic productivity and important concentration of sardines, Sardina
pilchardus, and other pelagic species) and the Bay of Malaga (with anchovy,
Engraulis encrasicolus, and sardine nursery grounds).
The Strait of Gibraltar and adjacent areas are of utmost importance to marine
biodiversity (e.g. Báez et al. in this volume). Both areas (the Ibero-Moroccan Gulf
and the Alboran Sea) have common historical aspects for millennia as they share
oceanographic and meteorological environments and present particular geological,
zoological and botanical characteristics. For that reason, Ramos et al. (2011) proposed the “geohistorical region of the Strait of Gibraltar” as a target study area where
human records have existed since the Pleistocene period.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the relevance of this AtlanticMediterranean transitional area was enshrined during the period 1919–1923 from
the oceanographic and fisheries point of view. The first two intergovernmental
scientific organizations for the study of the Mediterranean (The Mediterranean
Science Commission, CIESM) and the North Atlantic (International Council for
the Exploration of the Sea, ICES) established the areas of the Strait of Gibraltar and
the Gulf of Cadiz as the geographical limits of their respective areas of competence.
French researchers showed the oceanographic and fisheries relationship of the
Alboran Sea and the northeastern Atlantic for the European hake (Merluccius
merluccius), a demersal species, with regard to seasonal variations in spawning
areas and preferred period for fishing (Le Danois 1920). Unlike for the pelagic
sardine, it was proposed that in the region of the Strait of Gibraltar, the two supposed
Atlantic breeds were not mixed: to the south the Moroccan and to the north the
common for the Gulf of Cadiz and north Alboran Sea (Furnestin 1948).
In addition, the studies carried out during the last decades on the historical
fisheries of the Alboran Sea have confirmed the importance of this “border sea” as
a transitional area in the Iberian Peninsula, between the waters of the Atlantic and the
776
J. Pérez-Rubín