SCUBA Jul-Aug 2025 issue 157 | Page 57

Barcelona’ s inland shipwreck

Archaeologists in Barcelona have discovered a well-preserved medieval ship during excavations, shedding light on the city’ s maritime history. The Ciutadella I was discovered about five metres below ground level in the area of the former Mercat de Peix( fish market), which is being redeveloped into a hub for science and innovation.

The ship is approximately 10m long and 3m wide. Its structure, consisting of curved wooden ribs and a minimum of seven hull planks, shows a form of build known as‘ skeleton construction’, which was common all over the Mediterranean in the late Middle Ages. Archaeologists estimate the ship to be from the 15th or early 16th century, when Barcelona was undergoing coastal and maritime transformations after the construction of the city’ s first artificial docks in 1439.

PHOTO: BARCELONA CITY COUNCIL

Would you take money not to do your job?

Is paying fishing communities not to fish a silver bullet, or a damp squib? Shark Trust MD Paul Cox weighs up the arguments

Back in October 2022, I wrote about some interesting work in which scientists have been aiming to reduce the impact of fisheries on sharks. This was brought to bear through social science and engaging fishing communities. Case studies from Indonesia, Brazil, Singapore and even the UK demonstrate novel approaches that are yielding results.

The ideas include paying fishermen to release threatened species and education programmes for fishing communities to increase their skills in sustainable fishing, budgeting and business planning. There has also been research into how much tourists – in many cases divers – might be willing to pay towards marine park management.

One of the above examples, paying fishers to release their catch, has been enjoying many plaudits over the intervening years. There’ s a beautiful, clean logic to it. Rather than spending money on creating policy change and fisheries enforcement, the idea advocates engaging with fishers, finding out what compensation they would need not to fish, and paying it.

A 2023 study conducted with fishers in Indonesia found that 98 % of them would welcome a positive incentive compared to only 52 % welcoming a negative incentive( fine). The authors concluded that for an estimated cost of $ US71,000 to $ 236,000, 20,000 hammerheads and wedgefish per year could be saved across two sites.

So, in theory at least, a cost effective and popular way to work with fishing communities rather than against them.

But not everyone believes it can work. And, for the cynics amongst us, a little bit of‘ happy’ news – you’ re right to be suspicious. In April this year, news broke of a rigorous follow-up study in Indonesia which tested the theory with two groups of fishermen under different conditions. The results suggest that the pay-to-release programs for rays were less effective than hoped – and those for sharks led to more of them dying.“ Aha”, the naysayers cry,“ I knew it was all pie in the sky”. But maybe that’ s giving up a bit too easily.

There are good economic reasons to think that this approach has merit. And, if it could be made to work, it could be a powerful tool for conservation, particularly in parts of the world where communities are reliant on fishing. But, as with most things in life, it’ s not as simple as it first appears. As the authors to the latest paper( who incidentally are the same as the earlier, more positive research) say, the lesson is not that it doesn’ t work, it’ s that we need to ensure that we test things out and find the glitches before jumping in head-first.

So, for me at least, I’ ll hold off on the told you so’ s and wish the social scientists, and the fishers, all the best in finding a solution that works for communities and for sharks. That’ s got to be what we strive for. www. sharktrust. org at the St Helena Trust, says he’ s seen male sharks chasing females, nibbling on their pectoral fins and“ displaying themselves” to the females, similar to mating rituals observed in other sharks.“ What we’ ve seen here is classic shark courtship behaviour,” he said.“ To this day we haven’ t seen successful copulation, but it is proof( whale sharks) are in our waters trying out these behaviours.”

A tasselled wobbegong in the Misool area of Raja Ampat, where a local resort has worked with local fishers to agree a no-take zone

57