10 REgIONAl DEpENDENCy ON FIShERIES (NUTS 2, 2005) Source: Pavel Salz, Framian bv, Graeme Macfadyen, Poseidon Ltd., Regional Dependency on Fisheries, European Parliament, 2007.
compensate for this reduction. 2002 is a reference year, since it marked the adoption of the last CFP reform and the strategy for the sustainable development of European aquaculture. Since then, however, aquaculture production has stagnated and catches have continued to decline. Aquaculture production seems to have reached a ceiling. In 2006, aquaculture represented 19% of total production, with 1 283 tonnes. European aquaculture production was valued at € 3 billion, with freshwater fish accounting for 46% of this, crustaceans and molluscs for 31%, and sea fish for 23%. Community aquaculture focuses primarily on four species: mussels, trout, salmon and oysters. However, production of species such as bass, sea bream and turbot is developing. Five production trends in the 27 Member States. 2002 = 100 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Total production Aquaculture Catches 2003 countries are responsible for 74% of the volume of Community aquaculture production – France, 20%; Spain, 17%; Italy, 14%; UK, 14%; Greece, 8%. In Spain, France and Italy bivalve molluscs (mussels, oysters and clams) account for the bulk of production, but species vary from country to country. The UK essentially focuses on salmon and trout, while Greece primarily processes other sea-fish species. The differing values of aquaculture production are due to species distribution. France accounts for 19% of production value, Italy and the UK for 17%, Greece for 12% and Spain for 10%. The European fishing fleet is very diverse as a result of the wide range of fishing conditions in Community waters. Large vessels predominate in Belgium, the Netherlands and Lithuania, while small boats are in the majority in the fishing fleets of Portugal, Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. There are also wide variations within the fleets of almost all the Member States. 2004 2005 2006 The results of the CFP have been poor in terms of controlling the fishing fleet’s overcapacity. Fishing capacity depends, firstly, on the fishing gear used, but the EU employs only tonnage and power to manage the fleet. The Community fishing fleet is gradually reducing in size, in terms both of the number of vessels and of overall tonnage and power. Despite this, the fleet’s fishing capacity is increasing as a result of the replacement of small CONTEXT 11