Evolving from Fry Fisheries to Early Life Research on Pelagic Fish Resources

The northern coasts of the Alboran Sea are known to have thrived from past artisanal fisheries that exploited the early life stages of fishes. This was mainly carried out by a suite of different fishing gears dating back to the eighteenth century to the end of the twentieth century (Sañez-Reguart 1791–1795 reprint 1988; Rodríguez Santamaría 1923). These fishery studies provide detailed descriptions of the fishing gears employed by fishermen exploiting the Iberian Peninsula coasts and a general account of the targeted species and their associated catches. In the Andalusian coasts of the Alboran Sea, beach seines called boliches were among the most common, targeting on sardines, anchovies, and a number of other fish species, as bonitos and tunas that preyed on small pelagic shoals (Fig. 13.1).