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Adri.SmArtFish, a joint Italian Croatian project to benefi t small-scale fi shermen in the northern Adriatic
by Eurofish
Adri.SmArtFish, a joint Italian Croatian project to benefit small-scale fishermen in the northern Adriatic
Helping small-scale fishers promotes Blue Growth
The project Adri.SmArtFish unites Italian and Croatian regions of the northern Adriatic, together with two pre-eminent research centres and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Croatia, in an effort to promote sustainability, innovation and co-creation (the collaborative development of value using customers, suppliers etc.) in small-scale fisheries (SSF) policy-making while preserving marine resources and local traditions and enhancing the competitiveness of small-scale fishermen through cross-border cooperation.
Small-scale fisheries in the countries facing the northern Adriatic have a tradition dating back many centuries. Today, they offer a way of sustainably exploiting marine resources, thanks to the understanding of biological and climatic cycles the operators must develop, the selectivity of the gear used, and the low catch rate. This fragile fisheries segment is facing challenges due to the decline of resources and the competition from industrial fisheries, as well as a lack of organisation and representation, and poor valorisation of the products.
Small-scale fisheries make a vital contribution to Blue Growth
According to the EU definition, fishing by vessels smaller than
Mišo Pavic ˇic ’
12 m overall length (LOA) and without towed gear is termed small-scale. Worldwide, SSF are the most important segment of coastal fisheries as they are closely
linked to local coastal communities in terms of culture and socio-economic development. In addition, small-scale fishermen have adapted to their local
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Small-scale fisheries play an important socio-economic role in coastal communities, but face challenges on several fronts — a lack of organisation, competition from industrial fleets, and limited opportunities to add value to their catches.
marine environment, with which they have co-evolved, making their activities inherently sustainable. For these reasons, they are acknowledged by the EU and the FAO, among other institutions, for playing a major role in the pursuit of Blue Growth, the long-term strategy of sustainable economic development in the fisheries and aquaculture sector. The project area is in the northern Adriatic (FAO Geographic Subarea GSA 17), where the SSF sector represents about 50 of the Italian, and around 77 of the Croatian fleets. The cross-border cooperation has been established due to the exploitation of shared natural resources, common problems and challenges surrounding those resources, and also because of the joint interests among small-scale coastal fisherman of both countries. Some of the common challenges facing the sector include a lack of competitiveness in relation to industrial forms of fishing, difficulties in accessing the market, low prices, the lack of fishermen’s associations, which both reduces access to information and the ability to shape policy making These problems in turn lead ultimately to higher costs and lower incomes. In addition, in the project area, the SSF sector lacks adequate landing infrastructure and logistics.
Adding greater value to catches will increase incomes without affecting the resource
The general objective of the project is to rapidly strengthen the role of the small-scale fisheries sector throughout the project area by encouraging, promoting, and stimulating its potential for innovation. Here, innovation refers primarily to regulation and/or management of natural
Adri.SmArtFish is a project designed to improve the prospects of Croatian and Italian fishermen in the northern Adriatic.
resources by implementing integrated management strategies for coastal areas; as well as to the valorisation of products to boost economic resilience and resource sustainability. The objectives of the project will be achieved by inviting all the different stakeholders responsible for the management of the coastal area, ranging from policy makers and scientists to fishermen and nongovernmental organisations, to jointly contribute to activities that improve long term production planning and the policy-making process. SSF enterprises in the project area will benefit from the creation of a sustainability certification label, the launch of a market network to sell the labelled produce, and the promotion of direct-to-consumers sales via dedicated platforms. The creation of a cross-border smallscale fishermen’s association will strengthen fishermen’s ability to contribute to the decision-making process and will also promote the science-based management of marine resources. Fishermen will also gain from the harmonisation of regulations governing the sector, another outcome envisaged by the project.
The Adri.SmArtFish project
Duration: 1/1/2019 – 30/6/2021 (30 months)
Partners (five each from Italy and Croatia): - Regione del Veneto (lead partner) - Università Ca’Foscari Venezia - Regione Friuli Venezia-Giulia - Regione Emilia-Romagna - Regione Marche - Istarska Županija - Primorsko-Goranska Županija - Zadarska Županija - Institut Za Oceanografiju I Ribarstvo Split - Ministarstvo Poljoprivrede
Total investment: EUR3,242,231
European Regional Development Fund contribution: EUR2,755,896
For more information visit: www.italy-croatia.eu/ adrismartfish
Russia prepares for a grand presentation at the Seafood Expo Global in Brussels
At the end of April, the Russian Federation will take part for the fifth time in the world’s largest industry exhibition in Belgium, Seafood Expo Global. This year, the joint national stand of Russia will be 20% larger and will cover an area of more than 800 sq. meters. For the first time, the Russian pavilion will represent more than 40 leading domestic enterprises engaged in the capture, processing, import and export of fish and seafood.
The Russian stand will mark this five-year anniversary with an exclusive culinary programme under the motto “Cuisine beyond politics”. Exhibition visitors will be treated by a tandem of famous chefs from Belgium and Russia who will combine their knowledge and tastes to emphasise all the advantages of Russian fish. For the first time, the stand will display an assortment of fish and seafood representing all of Russia’s regions from Kamchatka to Kaliningrad. Salmon, cod, haddock, wolffish, perch, halibut, flounder, herring, mackerel, sardines, toothfish, crab, shrimp, sea cucumber, scallop, oysters and, for the first time, freshwater fish from the south of the country will be exhibited.
Russian trawler sets new world record for harvests in 2019
A central position in the Russian pavilion will be occupied by one of the leading capture enterprises of the Far East, a major supplier of fresh-frozen cod, pollock, halibut, herring, mackerel, squid, sardine, and perch – the Sigma Marine Technology (SMT) Company. In 2019, the trawler, Peter I, owned by SMT, set a new world record for the capture volume by one vessel during the year by landing 87.3 thousand tonnes of fish. The main types of captured products are sardine, pollock, mackerel, Pacific herring, and squid. The previous highest figure, 83.8 thousand tonnes in a year, was set by an American medium trawler, and it lasted for many years. A haul of 50-60 thousand tonnes is considered a good result for such fishermen.
Other traditional participants at the Russian stand will also offer their products to the European public — major holdings and corporations such as NOREBO, Russian Fishery Company, NBAMR, FOR GROUP, Collective Farm Fishery V.I. Lenin, as well as new participants — Karelian Fishery Fleet, Fishery Cooperative INYA, and Murman Seafood. Several companies will exhibit under the banners of their regions — these are fishing companies, processors and traders from Kamchatka, Arkhangelsk, Astrakhan, Kaliningrad, and Murmansk regions and the Republic of Karelia.
New trade body to promote Russian fish to the world
Ivan Fetisov, Managing Director of the exhibition company Expo Solutions Group, the organiser of the Russian stand, said that the country was creating a marketing organisation, Russian Fish, which will promote domestic products to foreign markets and create a national brand
The Russian pavilion at Seafood Expo Global 2020 will be the venue for the launch of a fish marketing and promotion strategy.
with its own international certification, which will attest to the quality of Russian products. Russian companies will no longer have to spend years studying markets, analysing best practices and trends, searching for sales channels, and determining which product to sell and at what price. Russian Fish will do all this for them. The organisation will include fishing and processing enterprises, companies importing and exporting Russian seafood, as well as organisations and scientific institutes under the Federal Agency for Fisheries.
The main activities of the new organization will initially be, analytics, marketing research, and identification of promising markets. In the future, Russian Fish will be engaged in brand management, as well as PR support for enterprises. Expo Solutions Group is the operational centre and developer of a comprehensive marketing strategy for Russian Fish, which will be presented to the international seafood industry at the exhibition in Brussels. During the exhibition, a round table will also be held at the Russian stand involving representatives of European retail chains, where ways to solve the challenges of interaction between foreign retailers and Russian suppliers will be found.
Seafood Expo Global & Seafood Processing Global will be held on April 21 to 23 in Brussels, Belgium. The Russian national stand will be in hall no. 11.
