Fisheries for common octopus in Europe: socioeconomic importance and management

The European Union (EU) is one of the most important markets for cephalopods in the world. Currently, small-scale fisheries targeting the common octopus in the EU are of considerable social and economic importance, especially in southern European waters where more octopus are consumed as part of the traditional diet. Octopuses in Europe are excluded from quota regulations under the Common Fisheries Policy and EU Member States manage their fisheries employing different input and output control measures, especially in small-scale fisheries targeting the common octopus. The level of participation of the fishing industry in the management of their activity varies amongst Member States and some management arrangements in place are tailored at the local level. This manuscript focuses on four European countries with important small-scale artisanal common octopus fisheries (Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece). It describes and compares the current status of small-scale common octopus fisheries in each country, their socioeconomic importance, the management arrangements in place, and the opportunities and challenges for their future. Despite the increasing importance of octopus fisheries in southern Europe, few countries have collected detailed data on the socioeconomic importance and management of these fisheries. The information provided contributes to increase the knowledge about the human dimensions of octopus fisheries in Europe.