Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development
Environment: 1.7 million European project for sustainability of the fishing sector
Achieving a more competitive and sustainable fisheries sector is the goal of the 1.7 million euro European project FISHIMPACT [1], which involves ten institutions from six countries [2] in the Adriatic-Ionian area, including for Italy ENEA and the spin-off CibuSalus [3], supported by Assoittica and European Economic Interest Group SPES [4].
"With FISHIMPACT we want to support seafood companies in adopting new environmental and social sustainability standards both at the organizational and product level. In this context, cooperation among states will be crucial to develop common sustainable management strategies, acknowledging the specific circumstances of each nation involved and the different legal and administrative contexts of the countries involved," explained the ENEA project contact person, Sara Cortesi at the Tools for Sustainability and Circularity of Production and Territorial Systems Laboratory.
In particular, ENEA will coordinate activities aimed at examining the ‘state of the art’ of nutrition and sustainability labels and certifications used for seafood products in Europe and in IPA countries, i.e., those receiving pre-accession assistance from the EU, like Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In addition, to support fishing and aquaculture SMEs, ENEA will develop a multilingual self-assessment tool, integrated with a database of good practices that designed to offer companies concrete ideas for improvement. "We will also develop a new model of clear and transparent communication for consumers about the environmental, social and nutritional characteristics of seafood products sold. This approach will make companies more competitive and also encourage healthier eating habits and more responsible consumer purchases" Cortesi said.
The FISHIMPACT project aims to develop: a transnational pilot action to test the self-assessment tool with about 100 fish companies; guidelines to facilitate the introduction of the new quality and environmental requirements; a memorandum of understanding for international cooperation among the countries of the Adriatic-Ionian region involved in the project to ensure continuity of results in the long term as well. “We will also organize specific training programs on key topics such as Environmental Product Footprinting, Life Cycle Analysis, circular economy and labeling, to transfer the results obtained to all actors in the supply chain, from SMEs and sector organizations to consumers and administrations,” Cortesi continued.
With nearly 300 thousand tons of fish per year, Italy, Greece and Croatia account for almost 30 percent of European aquaculture output [5]. Specifically, in the Adriatic-Ionian area more than half of the total fish production comes from aquaculture, i.e. the controlled farming of fish, mollusks and crustaceans, rather than from traditional sea fishing. Among the various forms of aquaculture, mariculture is by far the most prominent [6].
"Fisheries and aquaculture can offer great opportunities for the development of the blue economy in the Adriatic-Ionian area. But coordinated and sustainable management is needed to prevent competion with other sectors of the blue economy like tourism and maritime transport, which generated more than 1.3 million jobs and nearly 95 billion euro in gross value added in Europe in 2021 alone [7]”, the ENEA researcher concluded.
Notes
[1] The project is co-funded by the EU through the Interreg IPA ADRION program.
[2] Croatia, Italy, Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
[3] Spin-off from the University of Padua and SINLOC SpA.
[4] SPES - Spread European Safety and Sustainability.
[5] Italy 130 thousand, Greece 140 thousand, Croatia 27 thousand tons of fish production (data 2022).