Site selection and carrying capacity in Mediterranean ... - FAO Sipam

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Figure 7 - Licence procedure for marine aquaculture in Turkey (2009)
Source: Workshop on National Legislation on Site selection, Monitoring Programme and on Environmental Impact
Assessment, 13-14 July 2009, Vigo, Spain
Analysis of the license procedures allows the drawing up of basic sets of rules for aquaculture. The
follow-up of the license process defines: who can run aquaculture operations; where, how, for how
long and under which conditions; which price (and taxes); which aspects of the EIA need to be
considered and who has the competence to decide about all these issues.
Understanding the set of rules for aquaculture requires, beforehand, the definition of a legal term
which applies in all the countries: the public domain. The concept refers to a legal principle by which
“certain public lands (tidelands and coastal waters) are deemed so important to the general public, that
they are held in trust by the sovereign for the benefit of the citizens […]. (Duff et al. 2003). In fact,
the maritime-terrestrial public domain could be defined as a form of state intervention by which these
’goods’ are destined for public purpose (public use, coastal protection and promotion of national
wealth). They are public owned property, endowed with a legal regime of protection and use under
the public law. Public domain refers to goods (inalienable and indefeasible) which cannot be sold nor
given away, neither be acquired by repeated use over time nor be subject to any lien or mortgage. The
titular or the public domain exercises the legal authority of monitoring, policing, sanctioning and
protection. In most countries there are laws which determine this special character for public goods.
For instance, in the Spanish case, the Constitution states that the marine-terrestrial zone, beaches,
territorial waters and natural resources are public property (art. 132) and the Coastal Act has come to
expand the assets of maritime-terrestrial public domain.
All the countries considered in the present review apply the doctrine of the public domain, although
there are several differences in the physical spaces under it. All but Albania, Egypt and Tunisia define
the maritime waters (water column) as public domain; apart from Albania, Italy, Morocco and
Montenegro, some shoreline zones are considered public domain in each country. Finally, with regard
to terrestrial zones (coast) Tunisia, Egypt, Greece, Morocco, and Lebanon do not ascribe the public
domain protection to such areas. Jointly considered, Croatia, Cyprus, Israel, Slovenia, Turkey and
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