The Spanish fisheries along the West African coast from the middle to the end of the 20th century

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Pêcheries maritimes, écosystèmes et sociétés en
Afrique de lOuest un demi-siècle de changement
Dakar, Sénégal, 24 28 juin 2002

• The Spanish fisheries along the West African
  coast from the middle to the end of the 20th
  century
• Eduardo Balguerías Guerra
• María Teresa García Santamaría
• Ana Ramos Martos
• Ignacio Sobrino Yraola
• Lourdes Fernández Peralta
• Teresa García Jiménez
• Instituto Español de Oceanografía

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OUTLINE

1. Historical antecedents
2. IEO statistical surveys in Spanish landing ports
   (1932 - 1970)
3. Establishment of the IEO program on African
   fisheries (1974)
4. Evolution of the Saharan fishery (1932 1999)
5. Conclusions

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SOME PIECES OF HISTORY

• Available information until the 17th century
• Phoenician and Roman vestiges show the fishing
  tradition in the south of the Iberian peninsula
• Information on disperse documents demonstrate
  that Iberians fished sardine and hake in the
  coast of Morocco
• During the 15th century Portuguese explored the
  African coast down to Guinea and brought news on
  the richness of the Saharan coast
• Spanish conquered the Canary Islands and started
  exploiting Saharan resources
• Treaty of Tordesillas recognised the rights of
  Spanish fishermen to fish between Capes Ghir and
  Bojador
• Pirate attacks isolated the region north to Cape
  Ghir and permitted the extension of Canarian
  fishermen from Cape Juby to Cape Timiris (banco
  canario sahariano)

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SOME PIECES OF HISTORY

• Available information until 15th century
• The Illustration period first descriptions of
  the African fisheries
• 30 boats
• use of hooks exclusively
• tasarte, anjova and estornino as bait
• cherne, corvina and sama as target species
• preservation gutted, salted and pressed
• annual production around 6 900 t (3 million fish)

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SOME PIECES OF HISTORY

• Available information until 15th century
• The Illustration period first descriptions of
  the African fisheries
• The colonialism scientific explorations
• introduction of nets and traps chinchorros,
  artes de tendido and nasas
• preservation of living fish in tank vessels
• factories onshore

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SOME PIECES OF HISTORY

• Available information until 17th century
• The Illustration period first descriptions of
  the African fisheries
• The colonialism scientific explorations
• The World War Two expansion of industrial
  fisheries
• introduction of trawling
• specialization of fishing (small pelagics, hakes,
  shrimps, cephalopods)
• new preservation methods (ice and freezing)
• extension of fishing grounds towards the south

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SOME PIECES OF HISTORY

1. Available information until 17th century
2. The Illustration period first descriptions of
   the African fisheries
3. The colonialism scientific explorations
4. The World War Two expansion of industrial
   fisheries
5. The new jurisdictional order decolonisation,
   EEZs and fishing agreements

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Catches by fishing area
300000
Guinea
Guinea Bissau
250000
Senegal
Mauritania
200000
Sahara
Morocco
catch (t)
150000
100000
50000
0
33
43
53
63
73
83
93
years
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Effort by fishing area
120000
Guinea
Guinea Bissau
100000
Senegal
Mauritania
80000
Sahara
Morocco
effort (fishing days)
60000
40000
20000
0
70
72
74
76
78
80
82
84
86
88
90
92
94
96
98
00
years
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Composition of fish catches
120000
100000
80000
catches (t)
60000
40000
20000
0
33
37
41
45
49
53
57
61
65
69
73
77
81
85
89
93
97
years
Haemulidae
Pleuronectiforms
Sciaenidae
Sparidae
Serranidae
Other fishes
Cephalopods
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Relative abundance in cruises
THALASSA - 1962
CIERZO - 1942
0,08
6,83
2,88
0,42
0,54
16,78
(2175 kg/60)
0,01
(569 kg/60)
80,32
92,12
ATLOR V - 1974
CONGEL - 1990
11,33
9,64
9,61
(211 kg/60)
18,7
0,86
(322 kg/60)
71,66
78,2
Fish
Crustaceans
Cephalopods
Equinoderms
Other invertebrates
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1972
Invertebrates
Osteichthies
Chondroichthies
Cephalopods
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
percentage (weight)
1990
biomass
catches
landings
Invertebrates
Osteichthies
Chondroichthies
Cephalopods
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
percentage (weight)
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CONCLUSIONS

1. First historical records indicate that Spanish
   fisheries in NW Africa were already established
   in the early Mean Age
2. Canarian fishermen exploited resources in the
   Saharan coast almost in exclusivity from the 15th
   to the 20th centuries
3. World War Two favoured the establishment of
   specialized industrial fisheries in the region
4. The new jurisdictional order forced to the
   extension of traditional fishing grounds
5. Spanish catches and effort reached their maximum
   during the 1980s followed by a continuous
   decrease due to restrictions in fishing
   agreements
6. Available information suggests that temporal
   changes in the Saharan assemblages affected to
   the total biomass more than to the faunistic
   composition