Historical notes and current dynamics of octopus trap fishery in Galicia

Here we present our last contribution to the study of fisheries dynamics of the small-scale fisheries in Galicia. We considered this a key paper to understand the octopus trap fishery in Galicia, which is maybe the most important fishery for the artisanal fllet in Galicia. You have free access to the article until July 13, 2018 in the following link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/…/artic…/pii/S0165783618301413

Highlights

• Common octopus has been regularly fished at least since the XV century in Galicia.
• Trap is the main fishing method for catching octopuses in Galicia from mid 1970s.
• A decreasing trend in fishing effort occurred since early 2000s.
• Official artisanal catches have fluctuated between 2000 and 4000 t y−1 in recent decades.
• Fishing operations and strategies depend on fleet size and vary seasonally and spatially.