Minimum legal size: Does they protect inmature fishes?

PAU CASADEMONT; ALEJANDRO COSÍN; JESÚS CANO COMPAIRÉ; REMEDIOS CABRERA CASTRO; MARÍA DEL CARMEN GÓMEZ CAMA; ÓSCAR VALLE SAEZ; MILAGROSA CASIMIRO-SORIGUER ESCOFET

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Simposio; IV Simposio Internacional en Ciencias del Mar; 2014

The regulation of minimum sizes of catch is one of the oldest and most widely accepted tools for the management of fisheries. The principal justification that has been given for this measure is that it prevents the fishing of immature individuals. It is a technical measure used to manage fishing, with the object of allowing sufficient numbers of juveniles to survive and reproduce. The study described deals with an analysis of the application of this management measure in sixteen species of fish of significant commercial interest, in the Iberian Peninsula. Taking as the basis the studies that currently exist on the sizes of first maturity, these have been compared with the legislated sizes of first catch,attending to possible differences in function of the fishing ground, sex or species, in the event of joint commercial exploitation. In general, statistically significant differences have been found between these sizes, thus demonstrating that the legal minimum sizes have not been defined according to biological criteria.