Elba Island: Repopulation of Protected Species

06 May 2021

With the objective of protecting and increasing the amount of wildlife around the port of Cava, the Port Authority begun a project to obstruct dragnet fishing. The port used the columns from the landing stage to create physical barriers against this illegal activity. The project required the mapping of the phytozoobenthotic presence, which showed that there was general degradation of the seabed but that there were numerous areas suitable for deterrents against illegal fishing. The study also revealed the additional challenge of underwater electric cables, which complicated the positioning of infrastructure atop the seabed. The result of the project was the creation of a submerged barrier that at once prevents dragnet fishing and provides a rich, biodiverse environment where sponges, hydrozoans, bryozoans, crustaceans, molluscs, gastropods and bivalves, echinoderms, tunicates have become plentiful, as well as birthing fish. 

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