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A Sub-regional Analysis of the Socio-Economic situation of the Eastern Mediterranean Fisheries

Year of publication 2016

Pages 71 p.

Author Dario Pinello, Mark Dimech

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Book (stand-alone)

ISBN 978-92-5-109301-6

Series number EastMed TD22

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) Within the framework of the FAO EastMed project, a Working Group on the socio-economic analysis of the fisheries sector in the Eastern Mediterranean was conducted in Athens, Greece from the 2-6 of November 2015. The goal of the working group was to contribute to the understanding of the socio-economic situation of fishing fleets in the Eastern Mediterranean countries, with a view to support economic advice in fisheries management. This report is the result of the working group and compares selec ted fisheries socio-economic indicators, including harvesting cost structure and profitability of main fleet segments. During the working group data was compiled from the Eastern Mediterranean, including Cyprus, Egypt, Palestine (Gaza Strip), Greece, Italy (Ionian Sea), Lebanon and Turkey. For the EU countries the data derived from the EU Data Collection Framework (2010/93/EU) was used, while for the non-EU areas the data was derived from the socio-economic surveys which are currently being co nducted within the framework of the FAO EastMed project. Data from Turkey was derived from the Turkish Statistical Institute. The data collected by both the EU and non-EU areas follow a comparable standard methodology, and using these data sets, socio-economic indicators were estimated and compared among countries and fleet segments in the region. The economic performance of 25 fleet segments from the seven areas mentioned above were analyzed and compared for the year 2012. The fisheries secto r in the region including the Black Sea Turkish production, produced a total of 581 thousand tons of seafood with an estimated value of $1.6 billion. The fishing fleet directly employed 80,017 people on a full-time basis working onboard 40,436 vessels. According to the data presented in this report, the value added generated by fisheries made up 0.05% of the total GDP generated in the region, employing less than 1% of the labour force. However, in the coastal communities of the region it repre sented an important source of employment, income and a highly valuable source of animal protein. In terms of profitability, the best performances were showed in Egypt, Lebanon and Italy, while the worst performance was found in Gaza Strip, where the activity was not profitable. In the vast majority of the fleet segments analysed, crew members are paid with a share system where the running costs are subtracted from the revenues before allocating the shares to the crew members and to the owner. Th e salary per fisher compared to the minimum wage of the manufacturing sector, was lower in Gaza and Lebanon, and higher in Egypt. The ratio of energy costs to operating costs showed the highest value in the fleets operating in Gaza, where energy costs are at an unsustainable level, which is detrimental with respect to the salaries of the workers and the remuneration of the investments. The fuel efficiency showed the highest values in Turkey, and the lowest in Italy where all the fleet segments s cored an extremely low value. The comparison of the breakdown of the cost factors showed that labour and energy were in general the primary costs associated with fishing, although their proportion varies among countries, depending on many factors, such as the fleet structure, the harvesting methods and the fuel subsidies/taxes. In general, vessels using active fishing gears (i.e. trawlers) are more dependent on fuel and have the energy costs accounting for a larger proportion of the operational costs while, for the artisanal vessels using passive gears, labour represents the larger proportion of the operational costs. Salaries can absorb as much as half of the total operating costs in small-scale fisheries, with the exceptions of Gaza and Turkey where the labour costs were below 20%.

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