EU Member States fishing in Mediterranean waters include Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia, Greece, Malta, Cyprus and Portugal. Bulgaria and Romania fish exclusively in the Black sea.

Mediterranean and Black Sea

Based on the submitted data, the European fleet fishing in the Mediterranean and Black Sea consisted of around 21,179 vessels, with a total gross tonnage (GT) of 228 thousand tonnes and total kilowatts (kW) of 1.43 million in 2010. The Italian fleet accounted for around 71% of the total number of vessels followed, at a very long distance, by the Bulgarian fleet (13%). When analysing the distribution of gross tonnage among countries, Italy still has the top position (80%), while Bulgaria shifts to fourth position after France and Malta. These positions are confirmed when analysing the power in terms of kW. This means that Bulgarian vessels have a smaller average dimension (4 GT and 29 kW on average) if compared with Italian vessels, and especially with the French vessels (15 GT and 100 kW on average).

Figure 4.2.1 EU Mediterranean and Black Sea fleet capacity and employment 2010 Source: EU Member States DCF data submissions

The oldest fleet is the Slovenian fleet, with vessels averaging 35 years in 2010, followed by the French and the Maltese fleets with average ages of 29 years and 28 years, respectively in 2010. Based on expert knowledge and on available data, it can be said that the Portuguese fishery in the Mediterranean area is carried out by very few boats: only 2-3 vessels (polyvalent and long-lines), registered in ports of the Azores Island and Mainland, operating in this area only in specific seasons catching shrimps.

Employment data submitted suggests that the total fishers employed and corresponding FTEs, harmonised and national, in the Mediterranean and Black Sea were 46,472, 31,900 and 35,794 in 2010, respectively. The Italian fleet accounted for around 60% of the total FTEs (62% for total employed), followed by the Spanish fleet (24% and 22% of total employed and FTEs) and then the Bulgarian fleet (7%). Based on the available data, a vessel operating in the region (excluding the Mediterranean Spanish vessels for which 2010 capacity data have not been provided) will employ on average 2 fishermen, corresponding to one FTE per vessel.

Figure 4.2.2 EU Mediterranean and Black Sea fleet effort and landings in 2010 Source: EU Member States DCF data submissions

The Mediterranean and Black Sea fleet (with the exception of Spain and Greece that did not submit data) spent a total of around 2 million days at sea in 2010, and an average of 89 days per vessel. Of the countries who submitted data, the Italian fleet accounted for 88% of the total number of days, followed, at a distance, by the Cypriot and Maltese fleets (both 4% of the total). Based on the data submitted, the total energy (fuel) consumption amounts to 453 million litres in 2010, however because of the lack of data from Greece and Spain in reality the total should be significantly higher. Of the Member States who did provide data, the Italian fleet consumes, on total, the largest amount of fuel (89%) while, on average, the French vessels are the least fuel efficient (35 thousand litres per vessel in 2010), followed by the Italian fleet (27 thousand litres).

Based on the data submitted, the total volume and value of landings achieved by the Mediterranean and Black Sea fleet in 2010 (excluding Greece and Spain) were 1,184 thousand tonnes and €251 million respectively. It should again be outlined that the lack of Spanish and Greek data does not allow for a very realistic analysis of the Euro-Mediterranean fishery fleet production. The Italian fleet produced the highest volume of landings in the region (93%), followed by the French fleet (5%). The Italian fleet also produced the highest value of landings (89%), followed, again, by the French fleet (6%).

The passive gears are the most important gears in terms of effort, accounting for 63% of the total and followed by the demersal trawlers (21%). Demersal trawlers are, instead, the most important in terms of both weight and value of landings (33% and 48%, respectively).

The 2010 average first-sale price was 4.71 €/kg, with the highest value registered for Portuguese landings (7.81 €/kg) and the lowest for Bulgarian landings (0.23 €/kg). Based on expert knowledge the Bulgarian average price should be very similar to Romanian values (around 2 €/kg), taking into account the common features of the two fishing fleets, exploiting more or less the same stocks. The inconsistency in the average prices should be attributed, accordingly to the experts’ knowledge, to the lack of data (submitted) on Bulgarian landings (turbot data are missing for the period 2008-2010). Furthermore, for the sake of homogeneity of the analysis, it should be said that, even if the Mediterranean and Black sea are merged into the same FAO area (37), the respective fisheries are very different, especially from a biological point of view. The main species exploited in the Black sea (sprat and turbot) do not have the same importance for other Med fleets. Furthermore, we should underline that according to EC policies a TAC system was introduced just 3 years ago for Romanian and Bulgarian fleets exploiting sprat and turbot (TACs are usually not applied and applicable in the Mediterranean fisheries).

Figure 4.2.3 EU Med. and Black Sea fleet volume and value of top 8 species landed Source: EU Member States DCF data submissions

Excluding data on the Greek and Spanish fleet, the 5 most important species landed by the EU Mediterranean and Black Sea fleets in terms of volume in 2010 were European anchovy, sardine (pilchards), deep-water rose shrimp, clams (striped venus) and European hake. Anchovy is the top species with a volume, in 2010, of 57 thousand tonnes, 23% of the total amount of landings in 2010 and an increase of around 26% in the period 2008-2010 (fig. 4.2.3 left). Anchovy is the most important species in the Mediterranean as it has the greatest influence on the total volume of production. The second most important species in terms of volume landed is clams. In 2010 the total volume of clams landed was around 19 thousand tonnes (8% of total landings). This species is mainly landed in the Adriatic Sea by Italian dredgers. Sardines (European pilchards) were the third most important species in terms of volume landed in 2010, amounting to 17.7 thousand tonnes (7% of total landings). Excluding data on the Greek and Spanish fleets, the five most important species landed by the EU Mediterranean and Black Sea fleets in terms of value in 2010 were hake, deep water rose shrimp, cuttlefish, anchovy, and swordfish. In 2010 the value of hake landed was the highest of all species, amounting to €99 million, 8% of the total value of landings in 2010 and an increase of 7% in the period 2008-2010 (fig. 4.2.3 right). The second most important species in terms of value is anchovy, which amounted to €79 million (7% of the total value) in 2010. Deep water rose shrimp were the third most important species in terms of value in 2010, amounting to €75 million (6% of the total value). None of these species account for more than 8% of the total value of landings, highlighting the fact that the Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries are highly diversified and not overly dependent on any one particular species at the regional level. Additionally, it is interesting to note that European hake is targeted by several different segments of the fleet using different gear types.

EU Member States fishing in Mediterranean waters include Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia, Greece, Malta, Cyprus and Portugal. Bulgaria and Romania fish exclusively in the Black sea. In terms of data availability, Greece did not submit any data. Spain did not submit any data on volume and value of landings by species, fishing effort or capacity. Slovenia did not submit data on effort and landings for 2008 and 2009 for the Mediterranean area. For Portugal, only data on landings (volume and value) and effort for 2010 (and very few data for 2008) has been submitted while information on the fleet consistency is completely missing. As a result of missing Greek and Spanish data (known to be major Mediterranean players), Italian production appears to represent the major part of the totals (see following graphs). A fully comprehensive and realistic analysis could therefore not be carried out.

Data issues: as described above, due to the data availability and quality, not all relevant EU fleets were included in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regional analysis. Please refer to the Source of Information for more details on data quality and coverage.