ALBANIA
The Orikumi Lagoon supports a small-scale ďŹ shery
Traditional fishery could use a helping hand The small-scale ďŹ sheries sector in Europe makes an important economic, social and environmental contribution to thousands of coastal communities across the continent. The sector is a source of jobs and healthy nutrition through a sustainable activity that often has a long tradition.
W
ithin the EU, landings from the small-scale fishery sector amount to about EUR2bn or a quarter of the revenue from EU fisheries, and four fifths of the vessels in EU fleets and about 40 of the fishers belong to the small-scale sector. Smallscale fisheries vary from country to country and sea basin to sea basin. Particular geographical features such as deltas, lagoons, and coastlines influence the choice of vessel and gear used by small-scale fishers. According to the FAO, while large-scale fisheries land more fish only 80 is for direct human consumption in comparison to almost every fish caught by a small-scale fisherman. Within the EU smallscale fishing refers to vessels of less than 12 m that do not use towed gear. Instead, small-scale fishers typically use traditional gears, drift and fixed nets, hooks, lines, pots, and traps to target multiple species.
Maintenance of the lagoon is fishermen’s responsibility The small-scale fishery sector is of particular importance in southern Europe. In Albania too small-scale fisheries are well represented – both in the marine and in the freshwater environments. One of the features of the Albanian coastline is the presence of lagoons. These water bodies are separated
The fish weir at the mouth of the Orikumi Lagoon, where it opens into the Ionian Sea. The structure is used to channel fish into a trap.
from the sea by a narrow strip of land and, depending on their origin, are strongly influenced by the accumulation of sediments carried by rivers on their way to the sea. Albania has eight coastal lagoons of which six are along the more northern Adriatic coast, while two are along the Ionian Sea coast. Lagoons are categorised into those formed by alluvial sedimentation and those formed in rock, and the two southern-most lagoons, Orikumi and Butrinti, belong to the latter category. The Orikumi Lagoon lies close to the town of Orikumi some 20 km south of
Vlora along Albania’s Ionian Sea coast. The lagoon has a surface area of 800 ha making it the smallest but one of the coastal lagoons. The lagoon is owned by the state, but a group of fishermen has the rights to fish the four commercially important species, mullet, eel, seabass and seabream, that frequent the lagoon. Their contract with the state specifies also that they are responsible for maintaining the lagoon, including making sure that the inflow from the rivers into the lagoon and the outflow from the lagoon into the sea are not blocked. These efforts are designed not only
to ensure catches of fish, but also to support the complex ecosystem that the lagoon represents.
Fewer fish in the sea also impacts productivity of the lagoon Fish from the sea enter the lagoon for different purposes, says Mimoza Cobani, from the Albanian Directorate of Fisheries. Some enter to feed from the nutrient rich water brought by rivers; others to reproduce; and yet others to escape changes in temperature – water in the lagoon being shallow
XXX FVSPl TINBHB[JOF DPN
! &(##