Spawning periods calendar of commercial fish in the Adriatic Sea: a preliminary study

Abstract

The Italian fishing industry, especially the part operating in the Adriatic, has long requested a change to the period of the fishing ban, normally effective in August, when Italy sees the greatest number of tourists. This study aims to contribute to knowledge of the reproductive periods of the main species fished in Italian waters, with the aim of protecting both the biodiversity of seafood and the income of fishermen using the technical ban. The tool chosen was consultation of the available bibliographic and documentary sources, in order to reliably and scientifically define the breeding periods of individual species. The results enabled the development of a reproductive calendar for every species taken into consideration. This calendar provides the technical basis to initiate a discussion on the scientific schedule for the biological bans.

Keywords:

• spawning calendar
• fishing ban
• Italy
• reproduction
• seafood