CROATIA
A Croatian-Italian project combines model-building with outreach efforts to increase ďŹ sheries sustainability
Bringing an ecosystem approach to Adriatic ďŹ sheries Commercial ďŹ shing in the Adriatic Sea targets mainly small pelagic species (anchovy and sardines) and demersal stocks. The main eets ďŹ shing in the Adriatic are the Italian and the Croatian. Albania, Montenegro and Slovenia also have eets in the Adriatic, but they are signiďŹ cantly smaller.
T
he small pelagic fisheries in the Adriatic are managed at the regional level by the GFCM (General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean) which has adopted a multiannual management plan for small pelagic stocks in the Adriatic. Measures under the plan include restrictions on capacity, catches, and fishing effort. Despite the management plan, there is scope for reducing the environmental impact of fisheries in the Adriatic according to Sunce, an environmental organisation in Croatia, that identifies a series of challenges with fishing in the Adriatic including overfishing, competition between fleets, and a lack of enforcement and the dearth of an integrated vision for Adriatic fisheries.
Ecosystem approach considers social, economic, and environmental factors Sunce together with ten other partners from Croatia and Italy is participating in the FAIRSEA project which aims to contribute to the sustainable management of Adriatic fisheries. Led by OGS, the National Institute for Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (Italy), the project will comprehensively analyse fisheries in the Adriatic, but also plans to increase 28
awareness in the region of the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF), a method that considers the economic, environmental, and social impact of fisheries. The FAIRSEA project will examine all fisheries in the Adriatic though the focus will be on the main commercial fisheries for which detailed data are available, while recreational and small-scale fisheries for which data are sparse will be studied in less detail. FAIRSEA started in January 2019 and will continue for 26 months. It is funded under the Italy-Croatia Cross Border Cooperation Programme, which is the financial instrument supporting cooperation between the two Members States territories overlooking the Adriatic Sea, to the tune of EUR2m. Currently halfway through its lifespan, the project has some noteworthy achievements already. These include a seminar for capacity building on EAF in Venice, Italy in 2019 while another one is scheduled for 2020 in Split, Croatia. An online discussion game on fisheries in the Adriatic has been designed (at playdecide.eu) as well as a food web card game for children (fish n’ ships). In addition, national and international workshops for stakeholders to discuss issues and objectives have been held to create a roadmap
Simone Libralato, coordinator of FAIRSEA presents the project at Crofish in Porec, Croatia in November 2019.
of interventions. The project is also developing a model that links oceanographic dynamics such as currents and the productivity of the sea with food web modelling and fisheries dynamics. The model is being trained on 20 years of data on resource monitoring, as well as fishing and environmental variables to produce management scenarios, which can be used to inform policy makers at local, national, and European levels. Although
the project so far includes partners only from Italy and Croatia, in the next stage the three other countries fishing in the Adriatic, Albania, Montenegro, and Slovenia, will also contribute to the model giving a comprehensive picture of developments in the entire Adriatic Sea. For more information about the FAIRSEA project contact: Simone Libralato, project coordinator, slibralato@inogs.it
FAIRSEA — Fisheries in the Adriatic region — a shared ecosystem approach Start date: 01.01.2019 End date: 28.02.2021 Total budget: EUR2,060m
Supported by: Italy Croatia Cross-Border Cooperation Programme
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