Countries

The loss of Crimea had a substantial impact on the fisheries sector in the Ukraine. According to the State Agency for Fisheries catches plummeted by 60% from 225 thousand tonnes in 2013 (including Crimea) to 91 thousand tonnes in 2014 (without Crimea). But Ukraine has significant natural resources even without Crimea.

Ukraine has 1.5m ha of water surface that can be used for fish farming. This includes freshwater reservoirs, lakes, and ponds as well as estuaries called limans in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The aquaculture sector in the country farms fish in different ways, in ponds, cages, and in recirculation systems.

EUROFISH co-organised a workshop on the identification and use of indicators for sustainable aquaculture in Albania.…

Axis 4 of the European Fisheries Fund supports the local development of fisheries communities. Private and public members of a fisheries community join together in a Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG) to prepare and implement a local development strategy for the area. The FLAG typically comprises representatives from private industry, local government, NGOs, and civil society. These partnerships help fishing communities in three main ways: by linking them into networks and increasing their influence; by safeguarding jobs and raising incomes; and by creating new job opportunities through the acquisition of new skills, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

The aquaculture industry in Romania is dominated by the farming of cyprinids in earthen ponds and reservoirs. Around the turn of the century the cultivation of rainbow trout started and production has grown steadily since then. Trout is now perhaps the single most important species farmed in Romania.

The carp farming industry in Romania has been going through a minor revolution. As feeds, technology, and management have improved, and ponds have become smaller, yields have risen from one tonne per hectare two decades ago to three tonnes per ha today.

Romania’s capture fisheries are mainly from freshwater. In the Black Sea catches are nominal with the exception, in the last few years, of veined rapa whelk, captures of which have caused marine capture production to almost equal that from freshwater. However, it is the aquaculture sector that is responsible for the bulk of domestic production.

The Romanian fisheries and aquaculture sector has seen some interesting and possibly profound developments in the last couple of years. Possibly the most momentous is the new fishing auction in Tulcea, the first of its kind in the country, that is due to start operating later this year.

The veined rapa whelk (Rapana venosa) is an invasive species of gastropod native to the western Pacific and now widespread in the Black Sea. The animal is carnivorous feeding on other molluscs and is known to be very resilient tolerating a range of temperatures, salinities, oxygen levels and pollution.

Fish from the Black Sea is landed at a number of sites along the coast most of them privately owned. The fishermen are mostly coastal fishers using fixed gear which is emptied every day. The fishing season stretches from February or March to September or October depending on the weather. Catches comprise horse mackerel, flounder, Black Sea mackerel, sprats, and anchovies.