ANNALES - Ser. hist. nat. • 11 • 2001 • 2 (25) DELO NAŠIH ZAVODOV IN DRUŠTEV/ATTIVITA DEI NOSTRI ISTITUTI E DELLE NOSTRE SOCIETÀ/ACTIVITIES BY OUR INSTITUTIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS, 315-319 DELO NAŠIH ZAVODOV IN DRUŠTEV ATTIVITÀ DEI NOSTRI ISTITUTI E DELLE NOSTRE SOCIETÀACTIVITIES BY OUR INSTITUTIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS, Alessandro De Maddalena THE MEDITERRANEAN SHARK SPORTFISHERY PROGRAM Many shark species inhabiting the Mediterranean Sea have been strongly threatened by the ever in­ creasing fisheries due to the inefficient fishery regu­ lation. Several shark populations are now thus in fast regression due to overfishing. Because of their low reproduction rate and late sexual maturity age, sharks are highly vulnerable to overexploitation. As recom­ mended by organizations such as FAO and W ildAid, it is necessary to immediately improve data collection and monitoring of shark fisheries. Nevertheless, the main institutions responsible for fishery management in our area still are extremely slow in giving a concrete response to this problem. Sharks are often unduly con­ sidered as something of minor importance, being mostly caught as bycatch. People forget, however, that sharks are top predators, an indispensable element of the marine food webs. In the Mediterranean Sea, sharks are not only caught in commercial fishery, but also in sportfishery. W hile commercial fishery is scarcely mo­ nitored in our area, sportfishery is totally unmonitored. As a result of these considerations, as a first im­ portant step, the Mediterranean Shark Research Group (for information see pages 336-337 in Annales Ser. hist, nat. 10/2) started in the summer 2001 its Mediterranean Shark Sportfishery Program (Programma sulla Pesca Sportiva degli Squali del Mediterráneo), a program of RESEARCH GROUP Logo of the Mediterranean Shark Research Group, (by Juan Antonio Moreno) Logotip Sredozemske skupine za raziskovanje morskih psov. (avtor: Juan Antonio Moreno) data collection on captures of sharks in sportfishery in all Mediterranean waters. Ail sportfishermen, indepen­ dent or belonging to clubs or associations, can take part in this project giving a fundamental help. All of some 50 species of sharks present in our waters are considered, both large-sized such as thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus) or blue shark (Prionace glauca) and small­ sized such as smooth-hound (Mustelus mustelus) or piked dogfish (Squalus acanthias). Whenever possible, sportfishermen should report the following: shark species, date and location of the encounter (preferably with precise position), distance from the coast, depth of the sea, total length (in a straight line from the tip of the snout to the apex of the upper lobe of caudal fin), mass (specify if whole or gutted), sex (as in all sharks, male has two well evident cylindrical intromittent organs, the claspers, originating from the pelvic fins), specify if the shark was released alive, a photograph (if not possible, indicate on the basis of which features the species was identified), name and contact address of the fisherman and its boat (if possible, include e-mail address). Please do not hesitate to report even those captures for which data collected are in­ complete. We reduced the data requested to the minimum to make the work of the fishermen willing to collaborate with us in this program easier. In any case, if someone is able to note more details, other data not strictly necessary but useful w ill be the following: time of capture, weather, state of the sea, stomach contents, behaviour, details of the embryos in the case of pregnant females (number, total length, mass, sex), presence of other species in the immediate area, any other additional comments. It is strongly recommended that sharks are released alive: in this case it w ill be not important if the form to report capture data is not filled in full. Data are to be sent to the following address: Dr. Alessandro De Maddalena - Italian Great White Shark Data Bank (Banca Dati Italiana Squalo Bianco), via L. Ariosto 4, 1-20145 Milano, Italy. E-mail: ademaddalena@tiscalinet.it At the same address it is even possible to obtain forms on paper version (in Italian). Moreover, in Slo­ venia the following contact is possible: Dr. Lovrenc Lipej - Marine Biology Station, National Institute of Biology, Fornace 41, SI-6330 Piran, Slovenia. E-mail: lipei@nib.si Information about the Mediterranean Shark Sport­ fishery Program, together with the form to be filled to communicate data on captures of sharks, can be found inside the new web site of the Mediterranean Shark Research Group, located at: http://alessandrodemaddalena.supereva.it/index.html For the diffusion of information on the Medi­ terranean Shark Sportfishery Program, an important role 315 ANNALES • Ser. hist. nat. • 11 • 2001 • 2 (25) DELO NASlH ZAVODOV IN DRUSTEV/ATTIVITÀ DEI NOSTRI ISTITUTI E DELLE NOSTRE SOCIETÀ/ACTIVITIES BY OUR INSTITUTIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS, 315-319 is played by the media (wildlife and sportfishing magazines, web sites on fishing and seq,, etc.). Much in this sense has already been done, but every additional collaboration is welcome. The Mediterranean Shark Research Group thanks everyone who wishes to collaborate in data collection on captures of sharks from the Mediterranean Sea. Robert Turk PROJEKT ALAS - VSE O SOLI (ECOS-OUVERTURE 1998-2001 Projekt ALAS pomeni začetek uresničevanja želje štirih različnih solinarskih mest z različnih koncev stare celine - ohranitev in oživitev tradicionalne proizvodnje soli ter varovanje izjemne naravne in kulturne dediščine solin. Izjemno hvalevredna želja v času, ko sredozem­ ska mokrišča, ki sodijo med najproduktivnejše ekosi­ steme na Zemlji, še posebej pa soline, marsikje izsu­ šujejo, zasipavajo, skratka spreminjajo do te mere, da izgubljamo izjemno kulturno dediščino, ostajamo pa tudi brez pomembnega dela mozaika, ki mu danes pravimo biotska in krajinska raznovrstnost. ALAS je mednarodni projekt, ki ga financira Evrop­ ska skupnost s sredstvi Phare in v katerem sodelujejo Lesvos (Grčija), Figuera da Foz (Portugalska), Pomorie (Bolgarija) in Piran (Slovenija). V slovenski del projekta so vključeni Občina Piran (kot glavni partner), Medob­ činski zavod za varstvo naravne in kulturne dediščine Piran, Pomorski Muzej "Sergej Mašera" in Ornitološko društvo lxobrychus. Vrednost piranskega dela projekta je ocenjena na 359.000,00 EUR, pri čemer 75% sred­ stev zagotavlja Evropska unija, preostalih 25% pa part­ nerji sami. C ilji, ki so si jih predstavniki posameznih območij zastavili v okviru projekta, se medseboj sicer razlikujejo, vendar se v grobem nanašajo na: - vzpostavitev trajnega sodelovanja med partnerji ter izmenjavo znanja in izkušenj; - ohranitev tradicionalne oblike proizvodnje soli in njene prodaje kot enega izmed elementov lokalne ekonomije, ustanovitev oz. vzpostavitev struktur, ki bi jim država podelila koncesijo za proizvodnjo in prodajo soli ter posle­ dično oblikovanje možnosti za nova delovna mesta; - sodelovanje pri reševanju specifičnih lokalnih pro­ blemov, s katerimi se srečujejo partnerji projekta; iskanje različnih možnosti javnega in zasebnega financiranja vsebin projekta, vključno z možnostjo izrabe strukturnih skladov Evropske unije; - podporo ustreznemu gospodarjenju z naravnimi vrednotami in kulturno dediščino kot pomembnemu elementu regionalnega razvoja, posebej razvoja tu­ rizma; - ozaveščanje širše javnosti o pomenu naravnih vred­ not in kulturne dediščine solin ter njihovega razvoj­ nega potenciala; konkretne aktivnosti z "dolgoročnimi posledicami", npr. različni pilotni projekti ali projekti, namenjeni predstavitvi in obisku solin, publikacije idr. Pomemben del aktivnosti, predvidenih za območje Sečoveljskih solin, se nanaša na izboljšanje infrastruk­ ture, vezane na obisk Muzeja solinarstva in posledično zmanjšanje takšne obremenitve območja, na obnovo muzejske zbirke in na izdelavo projekta obnove tretje solinarske hiše, ki bo namenjena predstavitvi naravnih vrednot solin. Drugi del aktivnosti je namenjen manjšim posegom v infrastrukturo delujočega dela solin, oprede­ litvi odnosov med turizmom in solinarstvom oz. kra­ jinskim parkom ter zagotavljanju osnov za ustrezno upravljanje parka. Vzporedno z navedenim bodo pote­ kale aktivnosti, vezane na predstavitev in popularizacijo solinarstva ter varstva kulturne dediščine in naravnih vrednot. Projekt je izjemnega pomena tako za občino Piran kakor tudi za državo Slovenijo, saj pomeni konkreten prispevek k uresničevanju nedavno sprejete vladne Uredbe o krajinskem parku Sečoveljske soline. Tamara Lah 40 LET NACIONALNEGA INŠTITUTA ZA BIOLOGIJO Štirideset let inštituta za biologijo je pravzaprav kratko obdobje, če človek pomisli, kako stara je biolo­ gija - veda o življenju. Verjetno bi lahko posegli po začetnih zapisih prav do časov nastanka pisane besede, saj je človek opazoval življenje na Zemlji prav tako radovedno tedaj kakor danes. Od opažanj različnih oblik živega, zbiranja in konzerviranja zanimivih pri­ merkov, povezovanj teh v sisteme in odkrivanje zakonitosti evolucije smo prek stoletij prišli do moderne 316