Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2014

Publication Title

The living marine resources of the Eastern Central Atlantic. Volume 1: Introduction, crustaceans, chitons, and cephalopods

Pages

1-16

Abstract

[Introduction] This species identification guide focuses on the marine species occurring in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Gibraltar in the north (36°00'N) to the middle of Namibia in the south (23°00'S) and westward to 30°00'W longitude (FAO Fishing Area 34) and to 20°00'W longitude (FAO Fishing Area 47) (Fig 1). Estuarine species, as well as species that only spend part of their life cycle in marine waters (anadromous and catadromous species) are also included.

The West African coast encompasses some of the most productive areas in the world, supporting important fishery resources and a unique diversity. Fisheries constitute an important activity throughout the region and contribute to food security and economic revenue for the people and countries from Morocco in the north to Namibia in the south. The fisheries are of a diverse nature and the type of fishing craft used ranges from small scale dug-out canoes, through larger motorized canoes and coastal fleets to large industrial vessels. Some of the area covered by this guide encompasses the greatest diversity of marine organisms exploited by fisheries in the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

The area covered is also diverse culturally, politically, and geographically, with many distinct marine regions and several islands and island groups.

With many jurisdictional units it becomes clear that the countries of the region are faced with the challenge of management of shared stocks. Many of the main pelagic stocks and some of the demersal stocks are distributed across several EEZs. This has consequences for the management of the fisheries exploiting these resources and implies that agreements (bilateral, subregional, etc.) would need to be considered on a case by case basis (FAO, 2009; Garcia et al., 2010).

Industrial development in the coastal zone of these areas, as well as migration of people from inland rural areas to the coastal industrial centres, has led to increasing pressure on the coastal environment and habitat. Over the past 2 to 4 decades, marshes, swamps and mangroves have been degraded and lost through natural factors such as drought, but also through human activities such as unsustainable agricultural practices, urbanization, mining and other industries and modification of rivers that has reduced water supply to wetlands and marine areas (Heileman and Tandstad, 2008). Overexploitation of natural resources is also a fundamental problem in many areas (FAO, 2008)

Rights

© Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2014

"FAO encourages the use, reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product. Except where otherwise indicated, material may be copied, downloaded and printed for private study, research and teaching purposes, or for use in non-commercial products or services, provided that appropriate acknowledgement of FAO as the source and copyright holder is given and that FAO’s endorsement of users’ views, products or services is not implied in any way."

Original Publication Citation

Tandstad, M., Caramelo, A. M., Carocci, F., Carpenter, K., & Sanciangoo, J. C. (2014). Oceanography, Geology, Biogeography, and Fisheries of the Eastern Central Atlantic. In K. E. Carpenter & N. D. Angelis (Eds.), The living marine resources of the Eastern Central Atlantic. Volume 1: Introduction, crustaceans, chitons, and cephalopods (pp. 1-16). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/i1358e

ORCID

0000-0003-3618-1811 (Carpenter)

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