As part of the “Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food” Special Issue, this paper briefly reviews studies that highlight a link between deep-sea fishery resources (deep-sea food resources) and vulnerable marine ecosystems (VME), species, and habitats in the Mediterranean Sea, providing new insights into changes in commercial and experimental catches of the deep-sea fishery resources in the central Mediterranean over the last 30 years. About 40% of the total landing of Mediterranean deep-water species is caught in the central basin. Significant changes in the abundance of some of these resources with time, sea-bottom temperature (SBT), and fishing effort (FE) have been detected, as well as an effect of the Santa Maria di Leuca cold-water coral province on the abundance of the deep-sea commercial crustaceans and fishes. The implications of these findings and the presence of several geomorphological features, sensitive habitats, and VMEs in the central Mediterranean are discussed with respect to the objectives of biodiversity conservation combined with those of management of fishery resources.

Baited lander represents a low impact technique, an alternative to the traditional trawl sampling for collecting data on fish diversity and abundance, especially for threatened species such as Chondrichthyes living in sensitive habitats. In this study, distribution and abundance of cartilaginous fish were compared between two geographic areas, the southern Adriatic Sea and the north-western Ionian Sea, with two low impact sampling gears, an experimental bottom longline and a baited lander. Species diversity was evaluated by applying ecological indices and difference in mean abundances were tested using multivariate analysis. A total of 13 species of cartilaginous fish were collected. Significant differences in the assemblage recorded in the same area using different sampling tools were detected and no significant differences were detected among different areas explored with the same method. Using longline, the most abundant species collected in both areas was Galeus melastomus, while using lander, the most observed species were Dalatias licha in the southern Adriatic Sea and Hexanchus griseus in the north-western Ionian Sea. According to IUCN classification, of the 13 species collected, 2 are near threatened and 5 are threatened. A better governance of sensitive habitats coinciding with the essential fish habitat for these species would ensure them a better conservation status.

In order to collect information on ichthyofauna of a deep-sea vulnerable marine ecosystem (VME) network along the Apulian margin (central Mediterranean Sea), two low-impact sampling tools were used in three VMEs characterized by cold-water corals (CWC), namely Bari Canyon (BC), off Monopoli (Mn), and off Santa Maria di Leuca (SML). Using an experimental longline, 53 deployments were carried out between a 314 and 650 m depth for a total of 217 fishing hours, whereas when using the baited lander MEMO (Marine Environment MOnitoring system), 31 deployments were carried out between 427 and 792 m, for a total of 223 h of video recordings. A total of 37 taxa were recorded, comprising 13 Chondrichthyes and 24 Osteichthyes. The similarities in species observed among the VMEs confirm the presence of a network of CWC-VMEs along the Apulian margin, whereas some differences detected are due to the different abundance of some species, such as Galeus melastomus, Helicolenus dactylopterus, and Phycis blennoides. The presence of commercial species, vulnerable/endangered cartilaginous fishes, and large and sexually mature individuals of G. melastomus, H. dactylopterus, and Pagellus bogaraveo in all the VMEs confirms that the network of CWC-VMEs along the Apulian margin can act as a network of refuge areas and an essential fish habitat (EFH) for species threatened by fishing activities.

Sea pollution caused by anthropological activities represents a risk both for the organisms that inhabit it and for humans themselves. Great attention is paid to plastic waste because it takes decades to decompose and fragments into microscopic pieces that can be easily dispersed and ingested by marine fauna. Polymeric materials, in general, are rich in plasticizers (phthalates, PAEs; and bisphenol A, BPA), substances recognized as toxic both for aquatic organisms and for humans who could ingest them once contaminated marine organisms were to enter their diet. In this work, effective analytical protocols based on the use of solid phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with chromatography techniques were employed to evaluate the presence of PAEs and BPA in the extracted pulp of shrimps of the commercial species Aristaemorpha foliacea from four different fishing stations in the Mediterranean Sea. In addition to chemical analysis, a comprehensive microbiological characterization was carried out to assess microbiological risk due to shrimps’ consumption. This dual approach provides a more complete evaluation of the impact of human pollution on these crustaceans, revealing both chemical contamination and potential biological disruptions that could pose a danger to food safety.

Sea pollution caused by anthropological activities represents a risk both for the organisms that inhabit it and for humans themselves. Great attention is paid to plastic waste because it takes decades to decompose and fragments into microscopic pieces that can be easily dispersed and ingested by marine fauna. Polymeric materials, in general, are rich in plasticizers (phthalates, PAEs; and bisphenol A, BPA), substances recognized as toxic both for aquatic organisms and for humans who could ingest them once contaminated marine organisms were to enter their diet. In this work, effective analytical protocols based on the use of solid phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with chromatography techniques were employed to evaluate the presence of PAEs and BPA in the extracted pulp of shrimps of the commercial species Aristaemorpha foliacea from 4 different fishing stations in the Mediterranean Sea. In addition to chemical analysis, a comprehensive microbiological characterization was carried out to assess microbiological risk due to shrimps’ consumption. This dual approach provides a more complete evaluation of the impact of human pollution on these crustaceans, revealing both chemical contamination and potential biological disruptions that could pose a danger to food safety.