23.5 Technical Fishery Management: Legislation,
Conservation and Statistics
In 1482, the ordinance of the rope makers of Seville (García Cornejo 2001)
established the regulations on the mesh size for every piece of the marine fishing
nets with their respective lengths. A dozen different types of net gears were mentioned corresponding to two basic categories: the complete “jábegas,” their 6 different sections and the four specific types of nettings to catch sharks and meagre. Those
legal regulations were applied later in the Alboran Sea, from the times of the first
municipality of the Castilian Malaga during 1489–1495. A valuable fishing regulation, with several provisions for the protection of marine resources, was introduced
(García Cornejo 2001). Strict rules regulated the capture, handling and sale of fish,
both fresh and salted. A specific place on the coast was arranged for the unloading of
the fish coming from all the municipal places, and supply preference was given to
residents. As most of the catches from the beach seine trawl (“jábegas”) in the Bay of
Malaga were mainly destined to neighbours (for direct consumption or for artisanal
processing), only the remaining ones could be exported, fresh or cured. The fish was
exported to inland cities as far away as Cordoba and Jaen (about 170–200 km away).
The illegal and fraudulent activities of non-resident fishermen and merchants were
prosecuted by the municipal authorities. They were obliged to pay the corresponding
taxes for foreign trade of fresh or salty fish from the city, by sea or by land (López
Beltrán 2001).
According to an ordinance of 1489, the elaboration of anchovies and sardines in
Malaga was reserved exclusively for the neighbours, both Spaniards and registered
foreigners, the Genoese being the most interested. The salting factories had a large
number of workers. Due to hygienic problems and bad odours, the processing of all
kinds of fish inside the city was banned, both drying fish outdoors and salting
factories. Years later, before the sale to wholesalers, a municipal inspector verified
the quality of the preserved fish in the barrels before closing and sealing them (López
Beltrán 2001). In addition to this, different measures for the conservation of fishery
resources were added. A time-space closure was set to prohibit the use of “jábegas”
in determined coastal sectors between April and September with the objective of
protecting the immature fish fry of commercially important species. The mesh size of
the codends was regulated (the mesh opening cannot be less than the width of the
index finger, which was measured by inspectors using a ring) (López Beltrán 2001).
At the southeast end of the Alboran Sea, for several decades after the incorporation of the African city of Bugia to the Crown of Castile, its ordinances from 1536 to
1540 were in force (López Beltrán 1984). They contained information on the local
market regulation: rules on fresh fish related to fixed prices for different species and
the obligation to sell it publicly in a reserved place. The legislation distinguished
among the most valued fish, the species that were caught with the “jábega” and other
minor fish that could also be eaten dried (rays and sharks). In the next decade, in the
Castilian municipal ordinances of Gibraltar (1555), the great importance that fishing
786
J. Pérez-Rubín
Conservation and Statistics
In 1482, the ordinance of the rope makers of Seville (García Cornejo 2001)
established the regulations on the mesh size for every piece of the marine fishing
nets with their respective lengths. A dozen different types of net gears were mentioned corresponding to two basic categories: the complete “jábegas,” their 6 different sections and the four specific types of nettings to catch sharks and meagre. Those
legal regulations were applied later in the Alboran Sea, from the times of the first
municipality of the Castilian Malaga during 1489–1495. A valuable fishing regulation, with several provisions for the protection of marine resources, was introduced
(García Cornejo 2001). Strict rules regulated the capture, handling and sale of fish,
both fresh and salted. A specific place on the coast was arranged for the unloading of
the fish coming from all the municipal places, and supply preference was given to
residents. As most of the catches from the beach seine trawl (“jábegas”) in the Bay of
Malaga were mainly destined to neighbours (for direct consumption or for artisanal
processing), only the remaining ones could be exported, fresh or cured. The fish was
exported to inland cities as far away as Cordoba and Jaen (about 170–200 km away).
The illegal and fraudulent activities of non-resident fishermen and merchants were
prosecuted by the municipal authorities. They were obliged to pay the corresponding
taxes for foreign trade of fresh or salty fish from the city, by sea or by land (López
Beltrán 2001).
According to an ordinance of 1489, the elaboration of anchovies and sardines in
Malaga was reserved exclusively for the neighbours, both Spaniards and registered
foreigners, the Genoese being the most interested. The salting factories had a large
number of workers. Due to hygienic problems and bad odours, the processing of all
kinds of fish inside the city was banned, both drying fish outdoors and salting
factories. Years later, before the sale to wholesalers, a municipal inspector verified
the quality of the preserved fish in the barrels before closing and sealing them (López
Beltrán 2001). In addition to this, different measures for the conservation of fishery
resources were added. A time-space closure was set to prohibit the use of “jábegas”
in determined coastal sectors between April and September with the objective of
protecting the immature fish fry of commercially important species. The mesh size of
the codends was regulated (the mesh opening cannot be less than the width of the
index finger, which was measured by inspectors using a ring) (López Beltrán 2001).
At the southeast end of the Alboran Sea, for several decades after the incorporation of the African city of Bugia to the Crown of Castile, its ordinances from 1536 to
1540 were in force (López Beltrán 1984). They contained information on the local
market regulation: rules on fresh fish related to fixed prices for different species and
the obligation to sell it publicly in a reserved place. The legislation distinguished
among the most valued fish, the species that were caught with the “jábega” and other
minor fish that could also be eaten dried (rays and sharks). In the next decade, in the
Castilian municipal ordinances of Gibraltar (1555), the great importance that fishing
786
J. Pérez-Rubín