Bottom contact fishing is unquestionably one of the main threats to ecosystems of marine animal forests, especially corals in temperate waters. It is crucial to mitigate these impacts, with recovery and management measures and to integrate and motivate society, as bottom fishing provides a wealth of information on coral habitats and bycatch biomass for habitat restoration that greatly benefit research and management if they are developed by integrating rigorous science with local ecological knowledge.

Consequences of coral decline include loss of biodiversity and services from coral forests. While it is critical to mitigate these threats, data indicate that passive management measures are insufficient to ensure the persistence of coral habitats, and that active interventions to restore and preserve their ecological integrity and functioning are necessary. This urgent need culminated in the United Nations General Assembly declaring 2021-2030 the “decade of ecosystem restoration”.

This project will collaborate with fishermen and other citizens to rescue and recover corals in areas impacted by fishing activities in contact with the bottom in the Sagres region. Ecological and genetic studies will be carried out to implement efficient methodologies for clonal and sexual propagation and replanting in the Sagres depths.