Does artisanal fishing jeopardize the natural heritage of Port-Cros and its conservation?
Numerous studies have established that benthic ecosystems in the PCNP are healthy and habitat diversity is well preserved. To illustrate this, a bibliographical analysis was carried out on several relevant biological indicators, e.g. P. oceanica seagrass meadows, the only Mediterranean habitat included in Appendix I of the 1992 EU Council Directive 92/43/EEC (Pergent et al., 1995; Pergent-Martini et al., 2005), the dusky grouper E. marginatus and the brown meagre S. umbra, the two fish species most emblematic for divers when threatened by fishing (Harmelin and Ruitton, 2007). Indicators of their state within the PCNP MPA and in non-protected areas were compared (Table 6). These quality indicators reveal that the PCNP MPA shelters preserved P. oceanica meadows and the abundance of threatened and protected species better than non-protected areas.
