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

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Box 3 - Licence procedure for marine aquaculture in Croatia (2009)
In Croatia there are four authorities/administrations involved in the aquaculture license procedure: Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development (License for fish farming), Ministry of Environmental Protection,
Physical Planning and Construction (EIA), Ministry of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure (concession), County
(concession), Government (concession). The process starts with an aquaculture promoter submitting a request
for concession of maritime area to the County. The County checks if area and usage stated in the request is in
line with physical plans (site selection criteria are defined by law); if so, county starts procedure for Location
permit.
The requirements for Location permit are therefore a concept design in line with the physical plan, EIA (if
requested) and an agreement with Ministry of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure and Ministry of Agricultural,
Fisheries and Rural Development.
The process includes a public hearing for both physical plans and EIA (if requested). After that, the County
announces public tender for the award of concessions, requiring the consent with Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Rural Development. The best applicant signs a Contract on concession with the County, which
gives a concession for a period up to a maximum of 20 years.
Finally, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development issues a License for fish farming. The
Duration of this license is related to the duration of the concession.
Source: GFCM CAQ Workshop on National Legislation on Site selection, Monitoring Programme and on Environmental
Impact Assessment, 13 -14 July 2009, Vigo, Spain
Box 4 - Aquaculture licensing in Spain (2009)
In Spain, marine aquaculture needs a number of licences from different administrations. Autonomous
Communities or the regional government issues the main authorisation or concession and gives the right to
develop the aquaculture activity. But the aquaculture promoter needs other types of licences depending on the
site where aquaculture will be developed. In the case of marine aquaculture, as the maritime zones are
considered public domain or state owned property, the promoter needs a concession to install the facilities in the
public domain. And this concession is issued by the Central Government (administration in charge of coastal
protection: the Ministry of Environment, according to the Law of Coast of 1988). Or even a third administration
could be involved if the aquaculture facility is going to be installed in harbour areas, also considered a public
domain according to the Harbour Law (27/1992).
So, when the aquaculture facility needs an area in the public domain, owned by State, the granting procedure
becomes more complex and requires considerable coordination between authorities responsible for aquaculture
(regional government) and authorities responsible for managing coastal areas, marine zones, etc. This double
concession involves a complex and time-consuming procedure that in Spain takes 18 to 24 months for coastal
domain public use and 8 months for harbour domain public uses.
Many regional governments tried to reduce the procedures and improve their efficiency by designing coastal
zone planning for aquaculture. With planning as a tool for managing aquaculture, the administration defines and
sets up maritime and coastal zones designated for aquaculture activities. In the last decade, some of these
regional governments started to define these “interested zones for aquaculture” described by Law 23/1985, as
“those zones that for its optimum conditions for aquaculture needs official protection”. The European
Commission is also worried about the space limitations for aquaculture and strongly recommends the
importance of technological developments and spatial planning through this useful management tool.
Besides the public bodies involved in the procedure, the concurrence of two main administrative
authorities is required: one is responsible for the actual activity of aquaculture and grants the licence
to begin operations, and another that manages the public owned shoreline and public coastal areas,
and authorises the occupation of a public area for a specified time. It is the granting of this second
authorisation that generates most problems.
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