Fisheries Research 70 (2004) 97–111 Spear fishing in the Balearic Islands (west central Mediterranean): species affected and catch evolution during the period 1975–2001 J. Coll a,∗ , M. Linde a , A. Garc´ ıa-Rubies b , F. Riera a , A.M. Grau a a Direcci´ o General de Pesca, Govern de les Illes Balears, C/Foners 10, 07006 Palma de Mallorca, Illes Balears, Spain b Centre d’Estudis Avan¸ cats de Blanes, C.S.I.C., C/Cam´ ı de Sta. B ` arbara s/n., 17300 Blanes, Girona, Spain Received 31 December 2003; received in revised form 14 May 2004; accepted 14 May 2004 Abstract Catch and effort records of spear fishing competitions since 1975, in the Balearic Islands, have been used as a tool to study the temporal evolution of rocky littoral fishery resources. Competition spear fishing affected over 30 species, among which the most abundant were Diplodus sargus, Symphodus tinca, Labrus merula and Mugilidae. A decreasing trend over time for the mean CPUE (kg fisherman -1 h -1 ) was shown. Epinephelus marginatus was a key species in the evolution of the CPUE, since individuals weighing more than 4 kg diminished drastically after 1987. The species recorded as largest specimens clearly changed since this date, showing a serial depletion process. These results taken as a whole describe a situation of overfishing for some target fish inhabiting rocky bottoms between 0 and 40 m. Both recreational and competition spear fishing seem to have had an important effect on these resources and probably contributed to the lack of profitability of some traditional and highly selective fishing gears. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Spear fishing; Rocky littoral fisheries; Catch per unit of effort; Temporal evolution; Overfishing 1. Introduction Spear fishing is a very popular activity in most of the western Mediterranean countries, where it is prac- tised at recreational and competition levels. In Spain, ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 971 17 61 04; fax: +34 971 17 61 57. E-mail address: jcoll@dgpesca.caib.es (J. Coll). an individual licence is required but the use of SCUBA diving equipment and the commercialisation of the catches have been prohibited since 1963 (B.O.E, No. 34, 8/02/1963). On the coasts of the Balearic Islands, the environ- mental conditions can be considered optimal for the practice of this sport throughout the year. Coastal wa- ters reach to minimum temperatures of 13–14 ◦ C in winter and maximum ones of 27–28 ◦ C in summer; 0165-7836/$ – see front matter © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2004.05.004