First attempts towards the restoration of gorgonian populations on the Mediterranean continental shelf
7 pages, 3 figures, supporting information https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3118 ; In the Mediterranean Sea, gorgonians are among the main habitat-forming species of benthic communities on the continental shelf and slope, playing an important ecological role in coral gardens. In areas where bottom trawling is restricted, gorgonians represent one of the main components of trammel net bycatch. Since gorgonians are long-lived and slow-growing species, impacts derived from fishing activities can have far-reaching and long-lasting effects, jeopardizing their long-term viability. Thus, mitigation and ecological restoration initiatives focusing on gorgonian populations on the continental shelf are necessary to enhance and speed up their natural recovery. Bycatch gorgonians from artisanal fishermen were transplanted into artificial structures, which were then deployed at 85 m depth on the outer continental shelf of the marine protected area of Cap de Creus (north-west Mediterranean Sea, Spain). After 1 year, high survival rates of transplanted colonies (87.5%) were recorded with a hybrid remotely operated vehicle. This pilot study shows, for the first time, the survival potential of bycatch gorgonians once returned to their habitat on the continental shelf, and suggests the potential success of future scaled-up restoration activities ; This study was developed within the frame of the ShelfReCover project (Ecological restoration of benthic ecosystem engineers on the Mediterranean continental shelf project) funded by the Fundación BBVA. Funding was also provided by the EU's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 689518 (MERCES). This output reflects only the authors' views, and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein. M. Montseny was founded by an FPU 2014 research grant (FPU2014_06977) from the Spanish government. A. Gori received funding from a Beatriu de Pinos 2013 research grant (BP‐B00074) from the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Marie Curie Fellowship from the EU‐funded project Ithaca, as well as from a Juan de la Cierva 2015 research grant (IJCI‐2015‐23962) from the Spanish government ; Peer Reviewed
