FAO official data on red coral fishing in the western Mediterranean Sea in the period 1981-1991 are analyzed. The trend both overall and in each producing country is discussed. The period 1983-1991 has been marked by a clear-cut decrease of the overall yield. Italy, Spain and Tunisia showed a similar decreasing trend. Moderate yields in France, on the contrary, have remained roughly constant. Morocco experienced a cycle of "boom and bust" suggesting that rapid overharvesting has depleted red coral banks, while Algeria is the only country in the western Mediterranean in which red coral catches increased, due, presumably, to extension of its harvested areas. In this framework, current understanding of red coral demographic parameters and basic population features are considered and discussed. |