Diversifying Europe's Fisheries Areas
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No 4 I Spring-Summer 2011 ISSN 1831-5720 MAGAZINE Diversifying Europe’s fisheries areas European Commission Maritime Affairs and Fisheries EN Farnet Magazine No 4 I Spring-Summer 2011 I page 2 Contents Photographs (pages): . 4 iStockphoto (1, 5), European Commission (3), The need to diversify fisheries areas in Europe Dolenjska and Bela Krajina Heritage Trail Project Axis 4 of the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) aims to help the inhabitants of (6), Paolo Zitti (6, 22), Jean-Luc Janot (7, 12, 13, 14), fisheries areas to improve their livelihoods by developing new activities. Wacław Idziak (7), Monica Burch (8, 9), Câmara Zoom on Andalusia. Municipal da Nazaré (10), Ricardo Leopoldo Silva (11), Katia Frangoudes (15), Fiskfrämjandet Stockholms Skärdgård (17,18, 19,20), Marco Polo Echanger Autrement (22), Antonio Muñoz Ruiz (22), Sodankylä kunta (22), Marta Kaminska (23, 26, 27), Report: Surfing on a wave of innovation . 10 Ryszard Zarudzki (25), M. Bury (26). The central-west coast of Portugal is exploring new opportunities for diversification in fishing, tourism and cultural heritage, as well as in sci- Cover: Fishing boat leaving the harbour of Looe ence and renewable energies. in Cornwall (United Kingdom). Journalists: Jean-Luc Janot, Eamon O’Hara. Interview: Katia Frangoudes . 15 Other contributors: Katia Frangoudes is a researcher and founding member of AKTEA, Urszula Budzich-Szukala, Monica Burch, the European Network of Women’s Organisations in Fisheries and Adam Futymski. Aquaculture. Production: DevNet geie (AEIDL/Grupo Alba) / Kaligram. Contact: Report: Back to the islands . 17 FARNET Magazine, FARNET Support Unit, Upstream projects to diversify fishing in the Stockholm archipelago rue Saint Laurent 36-38, B-1000 Brussels +32 2 613 26 50 (Sweden). [email protected] www.farnet.eu FARNET Magazine is published by the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission. It is distributed free on request. Trade winds . 22 FARNET Magazine is published twice a year in English, French, German and Spanish. Four innovative, area-based development projects in fisheries areas. Editor: European Commission, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Director-General. Disclaimer: Whilst the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries is responsible for the overall produc- tion of this magazine, it is not responsible for the accuracy, content or views expressed within particular articles. The European Commission has not, save where otherwise Spotlight: New prospects stated, adopted or in any way approved any view appearing in this publication and statements should not be relied for Poland’s fisheries areas . 23 upon as statements of the Commission’s or the Directorate- How is Poland using its Axis 4 funds? Three questions to Kazimierz Plocke, General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries’ views. The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy Secretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. of the data included in this publication, nor does the European Commission or any person acting on its behalf accept responsibility for any use made thereof. © European Union, 2011. 27 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is FARNETwork acknowledged. Printed in Belgium on recycled paper. Farnet Magazine No 4 I Spring-Summer 2011 I page 3 Editorial “Diversification is more than just broadening one’s sources of income or leaving one job for another. It is about people developing new economic activities that are more sustainable and provide a better quality of life.” The economic crisis has shown that the whole of Europe faces the local people through activities like pescatourism and local craft challenge of diversifying into new knowledge-intensive and products. However, with the right kind of support and training more sustainable types of production; but in fisheries areas the local fisheries communities can also contribute to and benefit needs are particularly acute and the opportunities exceptional. In from involvement in all the smart, green and inclusive growth addition to the general effects of the recession, the sector faces sectors associated with the EU 2020 strategy and Integrated Mari- the ceiling imposed by a dwindling resource coupled with rising time Policy. costs (especially of fuel) and growing pressure from imports. Whilst the reform of the CFP aims at tackling the issue of the over- This issue of the FARNET Magazine opens with an exploration of exploitation of the resource, we know that employment in the the general importance of diversification for fisheries areas. It is fisheries sector is likely to experience further decline in the near followed by reports of the ways in which diversification is being future. We think that Axis 4 can play a key role in addressing that interpreted on the ground in Oeste (Portugal), the Stockholm threat for the future of fisheries-dependent communities, in par- archipelago (Sweden), and Andalusia (Spain). The interview sec- ticular by helping them seize the opportunities offered by mari- tion highlights the role of women in fisheries – as they can fre- time development. quently be the engine of diversification and innovation in fisher- ies areas. Finally, there is an article examining the 26 newly One of the strategies for dealing with this, supported at local selected Polish groups which, given the size of their budgets, are level by Axis 4, is to move into smart and green investments likely to be key players in the diversification of fisheries areas which allow fishing communities to capture a higher proportion across Europe. of the value generated along the supply chain. The last issue of this magazine dealt with these very important strategies under DG Mare has high hopes for Axis 4 and is open to the possibility “adding value to local fisheries products”. of extending it in the future programming period. But this will depend fundamentally on the success of the 270 expected fisher- However, in most, if not all fisheries areas this is not going to be ies local action groups in promoting high-quality projects and enough to guarantee high-quality sustainable employment for building the foundations for a more sustainable future. Their fishermen and their families or for the communities that depend strategies for diversification will play a central role. DG Mare will on their work. This is why we have dedicated this fourth issue of be watching closely and supporting where it can. We wish all of the FARNET Magazine to the broader issue of diversification of you working on the ground in fisheries areas the utmost success. fisheries areas. In the articles that follow you will see that this is not intended to supplant or threaten fishing itself. Rather it builds on the assets, culture and skills of fisheries communities to bridge outwards into emerging sectors. The aim is to ensure that local people really benefit from the sweeping changes that are affect- ing the whole of society. Ernesto Penas Lado, In fact, many fisheries areas are among the most dynamic coastal Director, Directorate-General for areas of Europe, while other more remote areas enjoy superb, but Maritime Affairs and Fisheries underused, natural and cultural assets. You will see below that most local strategies start trying to exploit and add value to those human and natural resources that are most accessible to Farnet Magazine No 4 I Spring-Summer 2011 I page 4 The need to diversify fisheries areas in Europe Axis 4 of the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) aims to help the inhabitants of fisheries areas to improve their livelihoods by developing new activities, and to support fisheries communities in the search for new ways to strengthen their economies and provide alternative or additional sources of income for fishermen and their families. Much of the support provided by the EFF Axis 4 has been put in place in part to mation technologies or even environ- goes directly to the fisheries sector, help- address this problem: to help the inhabit- mental stewardship. ing it to meet challenges related to fishing ants of fisheries areas to improve their activities, such as the depletion of fish livelihoods by supporting a variety of The main factors of success include: adapt- stocks, loss of markets and increasing new activities, and to help fisheries com- ing the choice of activities to the specific competition from imports, and the rising munities to look for new ways to character of the area, providing local actors cost of fuel and other inputs. Europe’s fish- strengthen their economies and provide with the necessary skills and advice, and eries sector has used EFF support to adapt alternative or additional sources of ensuring complementarity of individual the fishing fleet, and also to invest in aqua- income for fishermen and their families. projects within a wider strategy. culture, processing and marketing. Such additional income can come from activities closely related to fishing – aim- These initiatives can help to address some ing, for instance, to increase the value- of the challenges facing the fisheries sec- added of fisheries products – as well as What do we mean tor, but based on current trends, the num- from other sectors, in particular maritime by “diversification ber of people capable of making a living sectors. In each case, it up to is the local from fishing alone is likely to continue to partnership (Fisheries Local Action Group of fisheries areas”? fall. Moreover, the impact of these changes or FLAG), which usually includes a strong Diversification of fisheries areas can be goes beyond the sector itself, and also representation of the fisheries sector, to understood in a number of ways. It can affects the families of fishermen and the analyse the various options for develop- include the diversification of fisheries wider community. This is particularly true ment and choose a strategy that offers activities through new fishing techniques, in areas that have traditionally been the greatest potential for the area con- selling directly to consumers and small- dependent on fishing as one of the main cerned.