COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown: An Excellent Opportunity to Study the Effects of Trawling Disturbance on Macrobenthic Fauna in the Shallow Waters of the Gulf of Gabès (Tunisia, Central Mediterranean Sea)

Nawfel Mosbahi, Jean-Philippe Pezy, Jean-Claude Dauvin and Lassad Neifar
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Nawfel Mosbahi: Laboratoire de Biodiversité Marine et Environnement, Faculté des Sciences de Sfax, Université de Sfax, BP 1171, Sfax 3038, Tunisia
Jean-Philippe Pezy: Laboratoire Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière, Normandie University, UNICAEN, CNRS, UMR 6143 M2C, 24 Rue des Tilleuls, 14000 Caen, France
Jean-Claude Dauvin: Laboratoire Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière, Normandie University, UNICAEN, CNRS, UMR 6143 M2C, 24 Rue des Tilleuls, 14000 Caen, France
Lassad Neifar: Laboratoire de Biodiversité Marine et Environnement, Faculté des Sciences de Sfax, Université de Sfax, BP 1171, Sfax 3038, Tunisia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: This study describes for the first time in the central Mediterranean Sea the effects of bottom trawling on macrobenthic fauna in tidal channels of the Kneiss Islands in the Gulf of Gabès, Tunisia. Following a BACI protocol, two control stations (protected by artificial reefs) and two trawled stations (impacted stations) were sampled during a period with the absence of bottom trawling activity (the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period from March to May 2020) and during a trawled period. Although bottom trawling had no impact on sediment composition, this anthropogenic activity reduced the concentration of dissolved oxygen and had a noticeable effect on water column turbidity. The absence of trawling led to a significant increase in biomass, number of species, and abundance of total macrofauna. This illustrated the negative effect of trawling activity in shallow waters and the high resilience of macrobenthic communities of the tidal ecosystem of the Kneiss Islands. In the future, it would be very important to control the use of this destructive fishing gear due to its negative impact on the marine habitat and macrofauna, which represents essential prey for fishes and birds living in this protected area.

Keywords: bottom trawling; COVID-19 pandemic lockdown; environmental impacts; macrobenthic fauna; tidal channels; central Mediterranean Sea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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