Banco de la Concepción

Location: At 71 km to the NE of Lanzarote, at the coordinates 29º 55’ Latitude N and 12º 45’ Longitude W, Banco de la Concepción raises from 2,541 m up to its summit between 170 and 200 m deep.

Area characteristics: The biological richness of Banco de la Concepción is very influenced by the deep water emission phenomena, which create a high productivity, attracting a multitude of pelagic species, such as cetaceans, turtles, sharks, and tunas looking for food. In its vicinity there is an abundance of demersal fish, such as goraz, anglerfish, and hakes, and a rich invertebrated fauna cohabits in their bottoms. Banco de la Concepcion is a traditional fishing area of oceanic pelagics, and very good to catch demersal fish; it is highly visited by Galician and Portuguese drifters and long liners that fish in Mauritania, and mainly by the Andalusian longliners. In general, its main impacts are related to uncontrolled fishing pressure. The available information on the anthropic impact of the area is scarce, and its level of research is very poor as well.

More Information