Evidence is provided from stable isotope analysis that aggregations of small ocean sunfish Mola mola (total length <1 m) feed broadly within coastal food webs and their classification as obligate predators of gelatinous zooplankton requires revision.

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Abstract. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have spread across the Mediterranean to protect its rich biodiversity and manage human activities for a more sustainable coastal development. Within MPAs, traditional artisanal fishing is competing for space and resources with increasing recreational fishing, likely leading to interacting ecological effects. Such effects are difficult to unravel, given the multispecies character of both fisheries and the complexity of the food webs upon which they both impact. To address these issues, we developed an Ecopath and EcoTroph trophic model for the Portofino MPA case study (NW Mediterranean), in particular to (1) identify keystone species and assess fishing impact on them; (2) analyze the interacting impact of artisanal and recreational fishing on ecosystem biomass and trophic structure; and (3) assess the impact of recreational fishing on artisanal fishing catches. Two high trophic level predator (HTLP) groups coupled important keystone roles with high sensitivity to fishing pressure and should thus be regarded as "sentinels" to be prioritized for the definition of management actions. Recreational fishing had the widest impact on the food web, strongly impacting HTLP. Simulation of different mortality scenarios for each fishery highlighted that the ecosystem is far from its carrying capacity for HTLP. Forbidding recreational fishing allowed a 24% increase in HTLP biomass and benefited artisanal fishing by increased availability of HTLP catches. Artisanal fishing alone could instead be maintained with a moderate impact on the food web. Overall, Ecopath and EcoTroph modeling is a valuable tool to advise MPA management, but it is essential to increase data availability and quality by developing long-term monitoring programs on key species and on artisanal and recreational fishing.

Patella ferruginea is an endemic limpet of the Western Mediterranean Sea, presently considered the most threatened marine macroinvertebrate in the region and included in several international conservation directives. Its populations were widespread throughout the Western Mediterranean in the late Pleistocene (Tyrrhenian period), still largely distributed until the 19th century and presently confined into small populations in few restricted areas due to human harvesting for food and baits, construction of coastal infrastructures and the effects of seawater pollution. In particular, the species was reported as presently missing in the whole of the Italian continental coasts and measures are in progress to reintroduce the species through translocation and reproduction in controlled conditions along the Ligurian coasts (North-western Mediterranean).Recent surveys along the Ligurian coasts, performed to assess the most suitable sites for reintroduction, allowed the discovery of 32 specimens of this endemic limpet, considered disappeared in the area. These findings shed new light on the ability of natural dispersion of the species, the relevance of the measures set in place to restore the presently rarefied populations and provide hints for the selection and management of sites within the Natura 2000 Ecological network.

Since the 17th century, the Tonnarella of Camogli, a small tuna trap, has been used to catch pelagic fish along the western coast of the Portofino Promontory (Ligurian Sea, Northwestern Mediterranean). The availability of long-term datasets on fish yields (1950-1974 and 1996-2011), with information related to the seawater temperatures and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), has allowed us to study the qualitative and quantitative changes in fish yields in the last decade and the possible relationships with the seasonal anomalies of temperature that have occurred in the Ligurian Sea. In 1950-1974, yields remained relatively constant over time (average of 35.6 AE 8.7 tÁyear À1 ). From 1996 through 2011, yields were high (42.9 AE 15.9 tÁyear À1 ) but inconsistent with strong annual variability in catches. The primary catches are Seriola dumerili, Auxis rochei, Trachurus spp. and Sarda sarda. Changes in species composition have occurred as well: S. dumerili, Sardinella sp. and Belone belone have appeared recently. Moreover, a significant decrease in the boreal scombroid (Scomber scombrus) and an increase of warm-temperate carangids and other typically Southern Mediterranean species such as Coryphaena hippurus and Sphyraena viridensis, appear to be linked to the warming of the surface water layer, particularly evident in the Ligurian Sea, for the last 10 years. The analysis of this kind of trend may be a powerful tool for assessing structural changes of the pelagic fish community in the Ligurian Sea (Northwestern Mediterranean).