The only species reared in marine aquaculture is the Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis). The sector consisted of 32 mussel farms out of 36 with active registration in 2017. Between 2012 and 2016 production increased more than four-fold, reaching 3.6 kt. In 2017, there was a slight decrease of 8% compared to the previous year. The total production value was 1.7 M€ and the GVA 1.3 M€ for the same year. Over the whole period the employment was less than 100 FTE. The net losses generated by marine aquaculture in the last three years of the period raise concern: -1,6 (2015); -0.1 (2016) and -0.2 M€ (2017). This could be an indicator that significant financial resources with low or negative returns have been invested in the sector. A positive sign is the profit of 0.9 M€ in 2018. Since part of the production is intended for export, the development of the sector in the coming years will depend on the demand for mussels in the domestic and the neighbouring EU markets.

The Bulgarian fishing fleet is shrinking over the period 2012-2017 from 2387 to 1897 vessels, of which 1295 were active in 2017. The declining number of vessels goes along with a 15% decrease in gross tonnage and 9% reduction in power. The remaining fleet is growing older and at the end of the period its average age was 25 years. This process is driven by falling investments and value of physical capital. The majority of the vessels, 92%, form the small-scale coastal fleet, which has negative profitability. The large-scale fleet, including 104 vessels in 2017, demonstrated generally positive economic performance. Somewhat unexpectedly, the total employment grew by 55% (32% in FTE terms) during 2012-2017. The gross value of landings varied between 4.2 and 8.6 M€ in 2015 constant prices over the six years, and the sector generated from 3.0 to 6.8 M€ in GVA. The average live weight of landings was 8.7 kt per year without serious fluctuations. The most important species in terms of weight and value of landings were sea snails (Rapana spp). The rapid increase in the value of landings over 2015-2017 can be attributed to the expansive harvesting of clams (mostly Donax trunculus), which started from less than a tonne in 2012 to reach 819 t in 2017, generating 3.4 M€ or 40% of the total value of landings for that year. The demand for both types of molluscs is generated by foreign markets and the processed catch is export-oriented. The most important fish species producing two thirds of fish catch is European sprat.

The fish processing sector had a stable structure and overall positive economic development during 2012-2017. It comprised 43 to 46 small and medium-sized enterprises. The companies with 10 or less employees were a third of all enterprises, 41% of the firms had 11 to 49 employees. The mid-sized enterprises engaged between 50 and 80 workers. The total employment was 1756 people in 2017, equal to 1490 FTEs, which was 8% below the average for the period. Women formed the majority of the workforce (57-61%) in all companies. In 2012 the production value was 56.1 M€, it reached a peak of 90.4 M€ in 2015 and slightly declined to 86.1 M€ in 2017. The GVA followed the same pattern varying between 25.6 and 41.1 M€ over the six years and settled at 36.9 M€ in 2017. The sector processes both domestic and imported fish and aquatic organisms, wild caught and from aquaculture. In 2017 the total export reached 16.7 kt, the highest value since 2000. One of the factors for this development is processing and reexporting of imported resources. Another factor is the export of 4.1 kt of sea snails, mussels and clams. Four fifths of all deliveries reach EU markets. While the consumption of fish and seafood in Bulgaria is among the lowest in the EU, it has to be satisfied by the import of 43 kt of fish and aquatic organisms, some of which are processed by the local industry.

As of 2017, two companies had concessions for oil and gas extraction and exploration from coastal and offshore fields. Three producing gas fields in the Galata exploration block have been exploited in the Bulgarian sector of the Black Sea through an unmanned platform. The amount of extracted natural gas has steadily declined from 281 to 65 million cubic metres during 2013-2017. This development explains the modest economic indicators of 16 M€ production value, 11 M€ GVA, and overall employment of under 100 people in 2017. At present, there are two permissions for exploration of oil and gas in the shelf area and the EEZ of Bulgaria.

Coastal tourism is the largest marine-related economic sector. In 2017 it represented 72% of the Bulgarian blue economy jobs and 59% of GVA. The capacity of tourism accommodation establishments steadily increased during 2012-2017. The number of establishments rose by 38% in the 3 coastal districts to reach 1426 at the end of the period, while the number of bed-places expanded by 16% to 237 thousand. While major resorts are situated along the whole Bulgarian Black Sea coast, roughly 57% of the existing capacity is concentrated along the southern coast in Burgas region. The enlarged accommodation capacity met an increasing number of visitors. The number of arrivals rose by one third over the period and equalled 3.2 million in 2017. The nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments grew by 24% to 17.3 million during the six-year period. This led an outsized increase in income by two thirds until the end of the period. The tourism pressure, calculated as the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation relative to the resident population in a region, provides an idea of the pressure on the region’s infrastructure. The indicator may be categorised as high for the Bulgarian coastal regions and is comparable to a number of Mediterranean regions in other EU countries.

Maritime transport and port activities generated 15% of the blue economy GVA as of 2017. Sea transport provided around 700 jobs (FTE), it had a turnover of 40 M€ and contributed 17 M€ GVA. Freight transport is by far the more important segment. The largest shipping company operated a fleet of 20 bulk carriers. During the period several ferry lines functioned: Varna – Chornomorsk (Ukraine), Varna – Poti (Georgia), Varna – Port Kavkaz (Russia), Burgas – Batumi (Georgia). Apart from maritime transport to and from Bulgarian ports, a source of pressure on the marine environment are the routes between the Bosphorus and Romanian and Ukrainian ports passing through the Bulgarian EEZ. Port activities contributed 200 M€ in production value, of which 78 M€ GVA. The sector engaged 4.4 thousand employees in 2017. There are 22 port terminals for public transport, 13 fishing ports, 15 yacht marinas and 11 specialised ports. The number of ship calls to Bulgarian ports varied between 3.3 and 4.4 thousand in 2013-2017, with a larger share in Varna region. The freight handled at Bulgarian ports fluctuated around 26-31 Mt in 2012-2017. After 2015 there was a positive trend that led to the maximum reported value at the end of the period. Consistent with European trends, 44% of all freight tonnage was liquid cargo.

Shipbuilding and repair generate around 12% of GVA of the Bulgarian blue economy. The sector includes five large enterprises and a number of smaller ones. The sector imposes high requirements for technological sophistication and innovation on the roughly 150 subcontractors participating in the value chain. These industrial activities provide about 5 thousand jobs. The production value was 173 M€ in 2017 and GVA grew from 52 to 91 M€ between 2015 and 2017.