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

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through numerous procedures to prepare the public notifications and necessary public information.
This process appears easier for private areas, but there is a lack of monitoring of activities.
The Moroccan approach addresses directly the legal and institutional framework for aquaculture,
pointing to the lack of a specific law and the absence of sensitiveness to the investment in the activity,
besides other issues, such as know-how in the sector.
In Italy, the design of a participatory process has raised unintended effects which could be adverse.
For example, occasional interventions by environmentalists during the phase of discussion slow down
the process. In any case, the discussion with the stakeholder at different levels is mandatory through
the so called ‘conferenza di servizi (CS)’. Normally this CS is requested by a private entity or by the
public administration. In particular, if the CS is requested by a private entity, it is necessary to know
all the requests made by the different stakeholders and authorities listed by a regional standard linked
to the aquaculture license procedures, which generally includes: la guardia di finanza (revenue guard
corps) , la dogana (customs), la regione (regional administration), la sovraintendenza ai beni
ambientali e culturali (environmental & cultural bureaux), le associazioni dei consumatori
(consumers association), i sindicati (labour unions), le associazioni ambientaliste nazionali e
regionali iscritte agli albi nazionali (national and/or regional environmental associations), etc. Over
and above these, the lack of national aquaculture allocation plans or zoning or site selection in the
Italian regions remains a limiting aspect for aquaculture development, although several regions have
developed plans for aquaculture (cf aquaculture planning).
Other countries indicated specific problems related to the EIA procedure (e.g. Slovenia), the
availability of sites for coastal farms (Israel), the public inquiry linked to environmental protection
(France) or the period of license validity (e.g. in Croatia, where the licenses for use of the maritime
area that are under the jurisdiction of counties are usually not issued for the legal maximum period).
Finally, Egypt affirms that there are no problems linked to the licensing procedure.
Box 5 - Licences procedure for marine aquaculture in Cyprus (2007)
In the FDMR, the license for the establishment and operation of a fish farm, which is issued according to the
provisions of the aquaculture law and the aquaculture (general) regulations, requires information on the type of
culture, the sea surface water area which is defined, the fish annual production, and its duration, which is 10
years for marine fish farms. Also, the EIA becomes an integral part of the license. Generally, the license
includes terms and conditions which aim at safeguarding good management practices, collection of statistics,
protection of the environment according to the EIA study, the relevant conditions imposed by the Environmental
Authority and the Cypriot and EU laws, compliance with the Art. 9 of the FAO Code of Practice for
Responsible Fisheries in the Mediterranean, etc. The lease of the necessary sea area is done according to the
provisions of the aquaculture legislation by the Council of Ministers, and the tender procedure is followed. The
tenders are assessed according to technical, economic and financial criteria stated in the aquaculture legislation.
Finally the DFMR submits to the Council of Ministers a relevant proposal on the successful tender, who would
had also secured all the necessary permits, including the environmental consent. The annual rent of the water
surface covered by the farm installations is £ 0.10 (= 0.16 €) per square meter. The fee for the issue of an
aquaculture marine fish farm license is £100.
Source: D. S. (2007) Review of aquaculture development in Cyprus, MEZE (Herault) , 19 March, 2007. Ecosite du Pays de
Thau, France
8.3.3 Obtaining an aquaculture license: duration of the administrative procedure
A key indicator to assess the effectiveness of the administrative procedure for license granting is
related to the average time taken for a promoter or prospective aquaculture operator to obtain a
license. This covers the whole process, from the application and the permits required, throughout all
the revisions, public information dissemination process, etc., to the final granting of the license.
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