The sea turtle (Caretta caretta) is the most common sea turtle in the Mediterranean, where incidental catches due to fishing activities are considered the main threat to its conservation. Over 50,000 capture events and likely over 10,000 deaths are estimated to occur in the Italian waters alone. However, current knowledge on the interaction of sea turtles with fishing gears and the implementation of mitigation measures are still poor to hinder the decline of turtle populations in the Mediterranean. In this basin, where fisheries are multispecies, multi-gears and multinational, making demersal fishing activities profitable while preserving sea turtles is a challenge. This study aimed to develop bycatch reducer devices (BRDs) and alternative fishing gears to mitigate the impact of demersal fishing gears on sea turtles: (a) hard and flexible turtle excluder devices (TEDs) were tested in bottom trawling to immediately exclude turtles from the net; (b) visual deterrents (ultraviolet LEDs) were used to illuminate set nets and to alter turtle visual cues, avoiding entanglement during depredation activity. The results showed the different devices did not affect the commercial catch, while bycatch reduction was instead evident. Thus, the study highlights that introducing mitigation measures to reduce sea turtle bycatch in the Mediterranean, where the bycatch of vulnerable species seems as a global issue, can be possible at least in certain areas and periods. Considering fishermen reticence to change the gear traditionally used, determining the optimal gear configuration to minimize commercial loss while reducing bycatch, is the main issue while introducing new technologies. Therefore, a global effort should be done to introduce BRDs in different areas and fisheries of the Mediterranean.

The effect of shifting from a diamond mesh codend (T0) to a 90° turned mesh codend (T90) on the size selectivity of seven commercially important species in the Mediterranean bottom trawl fishery was evaluated. During sea trials conducted in the north-western Adriatic, two experimental codends made of 54 mm nominal mesh size netting that differed only in mesh configuration were alternately mounted on the same trawl. Overall, the size selectivity was significantly improved for all the species analysed, shifting from T0 to T90. The difference in the average expected L50values between T90 and T0 was particularly marked in European hake (Merluccius merluccius, 21.26 vs 11.26 cm total length), common squid (Loligo vulgaris, 12.06 vs 7.88 cm mantle length) and mantis shrimp (Squilla mantis, 20.78 vs 13.35 mm carapace length). Both codends had an excessive size selectivity especially for red mullet (Mullus barbatus), Mediterranean horse mackerel (Trachurus mediterraneus) and whiting (Merlangius merlangus), thus involving a commercial loss. These findings demonstrate the efficiency of the T90 codend tested at excluding undersized specimens, especially of hake, whose average L50was above the minimum conservation reference size of 20 cm. The adoption of this practical and inexpensive solution could help improve the management of the demersal resources targeted by the Mediterranean bottom trawl fishery.

Passive bottom-set nets are the most widely used fishing gears in Mediterranean small-scale fisheries (SSFs). Trammel nets, in particular, have key advantages such as their ease of use and handling and high capture efficiency for numerous commercial species. However, they entail high discard rates (5–44% of the total catch) connected to high mortality, thus exerting an adverse impact on benthic communities, besides catching individuals of commercial species under the minimum conservation reference size (MCRS) and specimens of protected species. Fish pots are seen as alternative and a more sustainable gear type that allow reducing discards in SSFs. In this study, a collapsible pot was tested at three coastal sites in the north-western Adriatic Sea (GFCM GSA 17) to compare its catch efficiency with that of the local traditional trammel nets. Data analysis demonstrated a similar catch efficiency for the commercial species, both among sites and as a whole. Moreover, the trammel net caught a larger amount of discards, both in terms of species number and of CPUEW. The catch comparison study involved the two most abundant landed species, common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis and annular sea bream Diplodus annularis. The pots were more effective for S. officinalis, whereas the trammel net was more effective for the shorter length classes for D. annularis, which were mostly under the MCRS (12 cm). The innovative pots could provide a valuable alternative to the trammel nets traditionally used in the Adriatic Sea, at least in certain areas and periods. Their main advantages include that they do not require a different rigging and they can be used without bait, while their foldable design allows large numbers to be easily loaded on board SSF vessels. The results of this pilot study indicate that pots can achieve the objectives of reducing discards and bycatch in SSFs without penalizing the catch of commercial species.