page_title: Adriatic Sea
section_title: Fishing
hierarchical_section_title: Adriatic Sea / Economy / Fishing
caption_attribution_description: Kamerlengo Castle and the Fishing Boat
context_page_description: The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto to the northwest and the Po Valley. The countries with coasts on the Adriatic are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro and Slovenia. The Adriatic contains over 1,300 islands, mostly located along the Croatian part of its eastern coast. It is divided into three basins, the northern being the shallowest and the southern being the deepest, with a maximum depth of 1,233 metres. The Otranto Sill, an underwater ridge, is located at the border between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. The prevailing currents flow counterclockwise from the Strait of Otranto, along the eastern coast and back to the strait along the western coast. Tidal movements in the Adriatic are slight, although larger amplitudes are known to occur occasionally. The Adriatic's salinity is lower than the Mediterranean's because the Adriatic collects a third of the fresh water flowing into the Mediterranean, acting as a dilution basin.
context_section_description: The Adriatic Sea fishery's production is distributed among countries in the basin. In 2000, the nominal—on a live weight basis—total landings of all Adriatic fisheries reached 110,000 tonnes (108,000 long tons). Overfishing is a recognised problem—450 species of fish live in the Adriatic Sea, including 120 species threatened by excessive commercial fishing, a problem exacerbated by pollution and global warming. Overexploited species include common dentex, red scorpionfish, monkfish, John Dory, blue shark, spiny dogfish, mullet, red mullet, Norway lobster, as well as European hake, and sardines. Turtles and common bottlenose dolphins are also being killed by fishing nets. The depleted fish stock, and Croatia's Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone (ZERP) contributed to accusations of overfishing exchanged between Italian and Croatian fishermen. ZERP was introduced in 2003, but its application to EU member states was suspended in 2004. The depleted stocks of fish are being addressed through a new proposed EU fisheries policy that was scheduled to take effect in 2013, when Croatia acceded to the EU, and restore the stocks to sustainable levels by 2015.
  The largest volume of fish harvesting was in Italy, where the total production volume in 2007 stood at 465,637 tonnes (458,283 long tons). In 2003, 28.8% of Italian fisheries production volume was generated in the Northern and central Adriatic, and 24.5% in Apulia (from the Southern Adriatic and Ionian Sea). Italian fisheries, including those operating outside the Adriatic, employed 60,700 in the primary sector, including aquaculture (which comprises 40% of the total fisheries production). The total fisheries output's gross value in 2002 was $1.9 billion.
  In 2007, Croatia's production in live weight reached 53,083 tonnes (52,245 long tons). In 2006, the total Croatian fisheries production volume was 37,800 tonnes (37,200 long tons) of catch and 14,200 tonnes (14,000 long tons) from marine aquaculture. Croatian fisheries employed approximately 20,000. The 2006 marine capture catch in Croatian waters consisted of sardines (44.8%), anchovies (31.3%), tunas (2.7%), other pelagic fish (4.8%), hake (2.4%), mullet (2.1%), other demersal fish (8.3%), crustaceans (largely lobster and Nephrops norvegicus) (0.8%), shellfish (largely oysters and mussels) (0.3%), cuttlefish (0.6%), squids (0.2%) and octopuses and other cephalopods (1.6%). Croatian marine aquaculture production consisted of tuna (47.2%), oysters and mussels (28.2% combined) and bass and bream (24.6% combined).
  In 2007, Albanian fisheries production amounted to 7,505 tonnes (7,386 long tons), including aquaculture production, which reached 1,970 tonnes (1,940 long tons) in 2006. At the same time, Slovenian fisheries produced a total of 2,500 tonnes (2,460 long tons) with 55% of the production volume originating in aquaculture, representing the highest ratio in the Adriatic. Finally, the Montenegrin fisheries production stood at 911 tonnes (897 long tons) in 2006, with only 11 tonnes coming from aquaculture. In 2007, the fisheries production in Bosnia–Herzegovina reached volume of 9,625 tonnes (9,473 long tons) and 2,463 tonnes (2,424 long tons) in Slovenia.
caption: Fishing boat in Croatia
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