Ioan Utiu, State Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
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. Strategies that will lead to a sustainable increase in output from these two sectors are the province of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, where Ioan Utiu, the State Secretary, has a key role to play.
In the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) Romania has an allocation of EUR168m for the period 2014-2020. The fund has a strong focus on aquaculture sustainability, improved data collection, better market organisation and economic growth in fisheries-dependent communities. Given this, what are Romania’s overall strategic goals for the sector as reflected in the operational programme and what are Romanian priorities for which funding will be sought?
To improve data generation, collection, and analysis during the 2014 – 2020 period Romania plans to use European support to focus on the following activities:
− The growth of NAFA’s (National Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture) administrative capacity through the creation of a specialised department for data collection, processing and data management and interconnecting the database with others (for example, GFCM) for the improvement of data transfer;
− Financing activities of specialised scientific institutes, partners in implementing the national data collection program, particularly in fisheries, aquaculture and processing in order to improve the quality of the necessary management decisions;
− Improved synthesis and analysis of fisheries, aquaculture and processing;
− Implementation of the cooperation protocol with Bulgaria to carry out marine research in Community waters of the Black Sea to understand better, among other issues, the influence of fishing on the aquatic environment;
− Financing the participation of experts in working groups organised by scientific bodies in the Mediterranean and Black Sea and increasing the exchange of relevant information, including expanding cooperation with states in the Black Sea region that are neither EU nor GFCM members;
− Organising meetings between experts and fishermen’s organisations to increase awareness on the importance of data collection in order to strengthen fishing activities;
− Conducting training courses for fishermen required for raising their level of qualification, adapting techniques for strengthening national fishing sector at the Black Sea.
The economic growth of communities whose incomes are dependent on fishing is directly related to the transparency and accuracy of data collection and the collaboration between NAFA and fishermen’s organisations to train fishermen.
The focus of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is on sustainable exploitation of marine resources. How are fish resources managed in the Black Sea, considering that these are used by both European Union (EU) and non EU countries? As far as Romania is concerned what are the main issues facing the Black Sea and how can they be resolved given that some of the riparian Black Sea countries, such as Russia and Ukraine are not members of either the EU, or the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), the regional fisheries management organisation for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea?
Of the Black Sea riparian countries only two are EU Member States, while the main actor is Turkey. There are several legislative provisions of the European acquis which bring administrative burdens and some complaints from the fishing sector in Romania. Black Sea fishermen are frustrated that they, as European citizens, must comply with more restrictive rules than those in force in other bordering states. As an example, turbot (Psetta maxima maeotica) fishing is carried out under a TAC (total allowable catch) established by the European Commission at 43.2 tonnes, and a limited number of vessels, with strict rules established in “the national fisheries control plan”. In numerous working groups on external fishing policy, Romania has claimed that, applying restrictive measures on the fishing sector to improve fish stocks in the Black Sea does not make sense, considering that Turkey alone lands about 80% of the total catches in the basin. Moreover, this approach not only leads to administrative burdens, but also increases the rate of illegal fishing. An approach at regional level on these issues may be the key to creating sustainable exploitation of fish stocks and groups of common stocks in the Black Sea.
How does Romania see improved coordination among the Black Sea riparian countries with the aim of harmonising policies and strategies pertaining to fisheries and aquaculture in this area, and how can this cooperation be further enhanced under the umbrella of the GFCM?
At the 39th annual session of the GFCM Turkey accepted the introduction of the “Management plan for turbot” from 2018, the model applied to the EU member states, Bulgaria and Romania. Georgia and Ukraine were also granted the status of cooperating non-contracting parties of the organisation following their request. These countries are members in the Black Sea Working Group (WGBS), a wide framework for cooperation where the Russian Federation has the status of a guest. At the session the two countries were encouraged to take the actions necessary to become contracting parties of the commission as soon as possible.
Given these developments, we can be optimistic about a unified approach following the basic principles of the Common Fisheries Policy in the entire Black Sea basin that can lead to the improvement of our fish stocks. In this context the GFCM group ensures the implementation of solutions of which the following have a particular interest:
− Harmonisation of the data collection system and the transmission to the GFCM Secretariat, under the various working groups, including WGBS;
− State participation at the Data Collection Reference Framework (DCRF) and the corresponding IT platform;
− Implementation of GFCM recommendations adapted to the singularity of fisheries in the Black Sea;
− Significant progress can be made on the basis of the integrated project initiated by FAO “Black Sea Fisheries Project” which can ensure the integration of regional development in fisheries and aquaculture;
− The development of pilot projects for aquaculture.
Regarding aquaculture in the Black Sea information on the sector can be further developed through specific data collection and transmission using the current SIPAM platform of the GFCM, which provides information on the current status of each country. Recently, a GFCM task force was established to create a strategy for the sustainable development of aquaculture in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
This task force will have the following responsibilities:
− Evaluate the characteristics of aquaculture at a national, regional, and sub regional level, in light of current problems in terms
of governance, territorial planning, economic and market problems, and ecological and environmental concerns among others;
− Assess needs and constraints at all administrative levels, which prevent the sustainable development of aquaculture;
− Identify strategic objectives for the sustainable development of aquaculture in the region;
− Develop, present, and prioritise strategies in order to take and implement adequate measures.
In general the European fleet suffers from overcapacity. In Romania, the number of vessels has fallen significantly since the country joined the EU. What long term objectives does the administration have for the fleet? Should it be reduced further or is it now commensurate with the size of fish and shellfish stocks in the Black Sea? Are there any plans to renew the fleet, given its average age of 15 years?
According to the statistics, the Romanian fleet has declined dramatically in terms of the number of vessels. This decrease in the number of fishing vessels has come as an adaptation to the available marine resources in Romanian waters. Romanian Black Sea fishermen have started to invest in fishing vessels that target the rapa whelk, an untapped resource until a few years ago. As a result small fishing vessels have been withdrawn from the fleet register and replaced with large fishing vessels specialised in catching rapa whelk.
Limits on fleet capacity do not allow the registration of new vessels over the established ceiling. Romania wants to maintain the current fleet and shift towards new and profitable fishing opportunities. In terms of fleet renewal, following the withdrawal of old vessels, the age of the commercial fishing fleet has decreased dramatically. The withdrawn vessels were mainly those built for coastal fishing of small pelagic fish species. They were withdrawn for economic reasons, they had high energy consumption and many were obsolete.
While aquaculture in the rest of the world has been growing rapidly, in Europe – including Romania – it has been stagnating. What are the main factors behind this lack of growth in Romania?
The causes behind the stagnation of the European aquaculture are also common to Romania and can be easily identified: excessive bureaucracy driven mainly by European environmental legislation and management of water resources or space (land and marine), undervaluing the productive potential of traditional fisheries in Central and Eastern Europe. There are also causes specific to Romania, such as the application of European directives at national level, bureaucratic inflation of aquaculture licensing systems by various state institutions, lack of an inventory of production capacities that can be used for aquaculture, including marine aquaculture, lack of farmers’ associations, until recently, the absence of a long-term vision on the development strategy of the sector, the lack of legal certainty for fisheries, legislative inconsistency, poor development of the production sector, the destructive impact of protected fish-preying bird species, of which the most important is the cormorant that decimates 40% of the farmed production of cyprinids.
The new Common Fisheries Policy and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) are expected to reverse this stagnation by promoting the sustainable growth of European aquaculture. Given this, what developments do you foresee for the Romanian aquaculture sector?
The future of Romanian aquaculture lies in the ability and willingness of dialogue between public authorities (ministries, agencies) and producer organisations. The use of the EFF has already started to increase aquaculture production. Based on the experience from the implementation of the first operational program (2007-2013), I can say that a further revival of aquaculture in Romania is likely during the 2014-2020 period. We expect to upgrade existing fisheries and increase production, diversify farmers’ sources of income by adding value (through processing, labelling), the emergence and application of codes of good practice in aquaculture, and by promoting awareness of the sustainability and environment benefits of polyculture.
Furthermore, the process of innovation through fishery research will play an important role in the identification of new products that can be promoted on the market (eg. caviar) or new technologies (recirculating systems) can be the solution for high-value species (turbot). We expect fish farming in floating cages to gain momentum in the coming years because Romania is rich in lakes and tests carried out so far have had positive results.