The president of the Region of Murcia, Fernando López Miras, announced this Saturday that the regional government will begin work in the coming days on the recovery of the Encañizada del Ventorrillo, which will allow “a new step in the comprehensive recovery of the Mar Menor as we will enhance the value of a traditional fishing system and, in parallel, will be an action that will help the regeneration of an area of high ecological value,” sources from the Community reported in a press release.
During the presentation of the project, held in San Javier, the head of the regional government stressed that this area has been, since the 15th century, “an example and model of selective artisanal fishing, which forms part of the traditions and culture of the fishermen of the Mar Menor”. “This is an emblematic project to recover the history and fishing tradition of a unique place in the world,” he explained.
The initiative, which will involve an investment of more than 700,000 euros and has a completion period of two years, includes the reconstruction of a wooden jetty to allow access to fishing boats, as well as the reconstruction of the rocky perimeter of the islet to facilitate the retention of the sand in the area, the placement of the paranza de cañas, which is the fishing gear used in the encañizadas, or the recovery of the fish passage channels up to a maximum depth of 50 centimetres.
“What we are announcing today is a major step towards the recovery of the Mar Menor, something we have been working on for many years,” said López Miras. In this regard, he recalled the “legislative measures that allow us to order and manage the development of the Mar Menor”, as well as “direct action measures” such as monitoring the ecosystem, the removal of biomass, the construction of storm tanks and collectors, the creation of a species bank and the implementation of bioreactors.
He also highlighted the work of inspection and control, as well as the sanctioning of those who act outside the law or cause damage to the environment. He also referred to the start of the procedures to undertake “the greatest renaturalisation of the Mar Menor” through the purchase of 3.1 million square metres of El Carmolí.
“No one can question that the regional government is putting all our effort and commitment into this task, but we need the other administrations to play their part as well,” the regional president emphasised.
Environmental guarantees
During his speech, López Miras stressed that “this project has all the environmental guarantees”, specifically, with the corresponding Environmental Impact Statement and the concession for the occupation of the maritime-terrestrial public domain granted by the Ministry for Ecological Transition.
The project includes a set of measures to be implemented during its execution and the carrying out of measurements to guarantee that no environmental impact is produced. In this way, environmental and archaeological monitoring will be carried out, as well as an inventory of flora and fauna for the knowledge of the most significant species in the area.
In addition to this, a fixed access route will be designed for the work, establishing a single entry and exit route through areas devoid of vegetation and bird nests, and always outside the terrestrial area of the rest of the Regional Park. In the same way, a control of the recovery of the draught and the provision of anti-turbidity barriers will be carried out.
In addition, there is a plan of measures for species (pinna nobilis, aphanius iberus, cymodocea nodosa or ruppia cirrhosa) and habitats (characterisation of the water column and sediments), and a weekly report will be sent with the daily water analyses during the execution phase, which will measure temperature, oxygen, nitrates, nitrites, ammonium, phosphates, suspended solids, salinity and pH.