Activities

11TH CARAH – TERENGGANU, MALAYSIA – 11-13 SEPTEMBER 2017
In 2017, the 11th CARAH will be held in Terengganu, Malaysia from 11 to 13 September 2017 – bringing this much-awaited event to Southeast Asia for the first time ever.

With the theme: Artificial Reefs and Related Aquatic habitats: Contributions to Science, Policy and Livelihoods, the 11th CARAH or MyCARAH 2017 aims to explore the following (but not restriscted to) topic of interests:

  • Environmental and socio economic impacts of the Artificial Reefs
  • Artificial reefs in artisanal fisheries and community based fisheries management
  • Long-term studies of Artificial Reefs
  • Design of artificial reef and man-made materials
  • Planning multifunctional maritime infrastructures, i.e. coastal defense infrastructures. bridge pillars, wind farms pillars, etc
  • Role of artificial reefs in reducing conflicts and improving/developing integration between exploitation of marine living resources by fisheries and aquaculture and other human activities
  • Artificial habitats as self-sustaining ecosystems

Find out more about event athttp://mycarah.umt.edu.my/
WORKSHOP ON ARTIFICIAL REEFS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AND THE BLACK SEA – ROME (ITALY), FAO HEADQUARTER
The workshop “Artificial Reefs in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea” was held in Rome on January 24 as a

special session within the Sub-Committee on Marine Environments and Ecosystems (SCMEE).
The Terms of references were:

  • Gather information on Artificial Reefs (ARs), e.g. structures and activities, for the inclusion in a common database to be incorporated in the general information provided by the GFCM.
  • Evidences of increased productivity and/or gathering of biomass in ARs of the Mediterranean and Black Sea.
  • Monitoring strategies and statistical approaches to study ARs in the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

The workshop was moderated by Gianna Fabi. Some studies on ARs in Turkey (A. Lök), Cyprus  (M. Agyrou) and Italy (A. Spagnolo, G. Scarcella, O. Giovanardi) were presented. A video developed by French Scientists was also presented, showing a different approach to include ARs within the “Integrated Coastal Zone Management” framework of the EU.

The participants discussed on the definition of Artificial Reefs, the importance of using new monitoring techniques to determine the AR effects in terms of production of new biomass and the need for common approaches of monitoring. Special concern was expressed on the lack of management plans, especially as regards the monitoring and control/surveillance if the ASR sites. Because of this, there was a general consensus on the need of drafting regional guidelines for the aspects related to the management of ARs in the GFCM area.
The SCMEE considered ARs as a powerful tool for the protection of sensitive coastal habitats against bottom trawl fisheries and for appropriate management of small scale fisheries.
The website www.habitatartificiali.it was presented. Participants agreed on the proposal of integrating and expanding it with information from all the Mediterranean and Black Sea; it was also evaluated the possibility of including such database  inside the GFCM Regional Information Systems.
Participants were informed about the next CARAH (Conference on Artificial reefs and Related Aquatic Habitats) that will be held in Izmir (Turkey) in September 2013 organized by the EGE University. It was proposed to include, in the framework of this conference, a Round Table on ARs in the GFCM Countries (Mediterranean and Black Sea).

The Workshop report is available at
http://151.1.154.86/GfcmWebSite/SAC/14/GFCM_SAC14_2012_Inf.5.pdf