Countries

The Latvian fleet is active in the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Riga, coastal waters, and also in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of western Africa. In the Baltic Sea the main catch in terms of volumes is of sprat followed by herring, cod, and flounder. In the Gulf of Riga on the other hand, Baltic herring is the primary catch followed by European smelt, while the coastal fishery targets mostly herring and flounder.

Although fish and seafood products have a positive image in Germany and are generally perceived as contributing towards a healthy diet per capita consumption has for years remained about a quarter behind the global average. One reason for this is the concern that many consumers have with regard to overfishing of the seas or unsustainable aquaculture methods. Internet portals are now to enlighten the public by providing objective information which could dispel such prejudices.

The fisheries sector in Latvia is multifaceted and is represented by fishing, processing, trading, and fish farming. The fishing segment relies on the Latvian coastline that has a length of 500 km along the Gulf of Riga and the Baltic Sea as well as 2,400 sq. km of inland waters.

A number of fish species are produced by the fish farming sector in Latvia, but of the species where data is publicly available only three or four are produced in significant quantities. These include carp, sturgeon and rainbow trout. The volumes produced of other species, including tench, crucian carp, and pike, are between 10 and 15 tonnes a year. Rainbow trout production jumped in 2014, the last year for which data is available, by a factor of 9 from the year before, from 4 tonnes to 35 tonnes. The huge increase in production is all the more impressive if one considers that average annual production for the 10 years to 2013 was 4.3 tonnes.

The Latvian seafood processing sector produces a wide variety of products based on locally sourced as well as imported raw materials. Although per capita consumption of fish and seafood at 16 kg per capita is below the EU average (23 kg/capita), local supermarkets offer an impressive range of products – canned, smoked, salted, marinated, and fresh using many different species.

Riccardo Rigillo, General Director, Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies represents Italy in the negotiations on a multinational, multiannual management plan for the Central Mediterranean. A plan is necessary to safeguard certain valuable stocks, such as crustaceans, and to point fisheries in the Mediterranean in the direction of sustainability.

In contrast to fisheries in the North Atlantic fisheries in the Mediterranean are characterised by the multitude of species and the varieties of gear that are used to target them. Italian catches in the Mediterranean (together with Turkey’s) are the biggest of the approximately 30 countries whose fleets fish these waters.

The Italian production of fasolari (Callista chione) takes place in the Northern Adriatic waters, falling in the two Italian regions of Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto and is managed at compartmental level (sub-regional level) by the Consortia (CO.GE.VO.) of Chioggia, Venice and Monfalcone. Here the system is based on a co-management approach.

The fish market at Chioggia is one of the biggest in the region. Transport bottlenecks constrain its expansion and the authorities would like to move it to an area that is better connected to the road network.