Extraction and cultivation of living resources

Extraction and cultivation of living resources as a human activity affecting the marine environment includes fish and shellfish harvesting (capture fisheries), marine plant harvesting, hunting and aquaculture.

Overall, these activities generated EUR 21.9 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) and employed an estimated 543 thousand people in 2021 (table 1).

Table 1: EU coastal and maritime activities - Extraction of living resources: number of people employed, Gross Value Added (GVA), past trends (2008-2021) and expected trends (2022-2024).

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Fish and Shellfish Harvesting and Processing

The fishing mortality rate (i.e. fishing pressure) and reproductive capacity (i.e. spawning stock biomass) of the populations of all commercially exploited fish and shellfish species across all EU marine regions need to be compatible with having biomass levels above those capable of producing maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by 2020, as required by the MSFD. This objective, which is partly shared by the common fisheries policy (CFP), is unlikely to be met.

Based on the latest available information, 39% of the assessed stocks do not meet either the fishing mortality rate or the SSB thresholds, although there are significant differences between regions. It should be noted that it is only possible to assess 20% of the exploited stocks against both criteria, and 50% against at least one (Table 2).

Despite being the most heavily fished regions, the North-East Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea have been showing progress towards achieving this 2020 goal due to reductions in fishing pressure. The Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea remain highly overfished. Thus, only 16% and 23% of the North-East Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea assessed stocks, respectively, did not meet any of the above-mentioned GES criteria in 2022 (Table 1). In contrast, 74% and 75% of the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea assessed stocks, respectively, did not meet any of the two GES criteria in 2021 (Table 2), and remain highly overfished.

Table 2: Stock in relation to meeting two of the primary criteria defining the MSFD's GES objective of achieving: (1)a fishing mortality and (2) a reproductive capacity compatible with having population biomass levels above those capable of producing MSY.

Fishing gear selection plays a major role in determining the fishing cost, efficiency, bycatch and its overall sustainability. Fishing using towed gear, which excludes gillnets, traps and other fishing gear used by the EU fleet, occurs in at least 37% of the EU continental shelf area. Capture of wild fish has decreased from 4,481 million tonnes in 2018 to 3,427 million tonnes in 2023, a fall of 24% over this period. This is reflected by a steady decline in the EU-27 fishing fleet in terms of number of vessels (-9%), gross tonnage and engine power (-12%).

Aquaculture

Marine aquaculture production in Europe increased by 68% between 2008 (1.7 million tonnes) and 2021 (2.9 million tonnes). The major producers are Norway (1.66 million tonnes, 57% of the total production in Europe), followed by the EU-27 (851,600 t; 29%), then Türkiye (335,600 t; 12%) and Iceland (52,200 t; 2%). The top EU-27 producers are Spain (258,300 t), France (156,000 t), Greece (141,300 t) and Italy (101,600 t).

In terms of weight, the main species produced in 2021 were Atlantic salmon (1.6 million t; 56% of the total), mussels (428,700 t; 15%), seabass (254,400 t; 9%), gilthead seabream (240,400 t; 8%) and rainbow trout (146,300 t; 5%). The volume of macroalgae production is negligible compared to fish and shellfish (<400 t)).

Source: FAO, 2024

Pressures on the marine environment

The extraction of living resources puts significant pressure on the marine environment including:

Physical loss and disturbance of the seabed: Bottom trawling is the most extensive human activity impacting the European continental shelf; abrasion of the seabed by benthic trawling or mussel and scallop dredging damages abiotic and biotic structures (Korpinen et al, 2019).

Commercially exploited fish and shellfish: Commercial fishing, which aims to maximise the amount of fish and shellfish caught, impacts the populations of the target species (by their removal, changing age structures, etc.) and can also result in by‑catch, which impacts non‑target fish and shellfish and populations of other species, e.g. seabirds, turtles and mammals (EEA, 2015). It, therefore, also influences the structure of marine food webs, as well as disturbance to seafloor.

Contamination: Aquaculture requires external inputs such as feed and medicines which pollutes the local ecosystem.

Non-indigenous species can be introduced by vessels ballast water, tank sediments, hull fouling and as well as escapes from aquaculture and mariculture.

Marine litter: Fishing (alongside shipping) is one of the major sea-based sources of marine litter which includes plastics (e.g. ropes, nets, etc.) and microplastics. Lost or abandoned fishing gear also has widely acknowledged effects due to ghost fishing which results in the entanglement of various marine fauna (Lopez-Lopez et al, 2017).

Underwater noise: Both fishing and aquaculture are a source of continuous noise in the marine environment. For aquaculture this is caused by the intensive systems used such as air and water pumps (Davidson et al, 2009) while for fishing it is the vessels noise itself.

References

EC, 2016. 'A short history — aquaculture', European Commission (https://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/ aquaculture/aquaculture_methods/history_en).
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EEA, 2019c. Marine Messages II. Navigating the course towards clean, healthy and productive seas through implementation of an ecosystem-based approach. European Environment Agency, EEA Report, 17/2019: 82 pp.
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European Commission, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Joint Research Centre, Borriello, A., Calvo Santos, A., Codina López, L. et al., The EU blue economy report 2024, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2771/186064
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Zimmermann, F., K. M. Werner, 2019. Improved management is the main driver behind recovery of Northeast Atlantic fish stocks. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 17: 93-99
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EU, 2013, Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy.
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EEA, 2019a. 'Status of marine fish and shellfish stocks in European seas (CSI 032/MAR 007)', European Environment Agency (https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/status-of-marine-fish-stocks-3/ assessment-1) accessed 23 August 2019.
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EEA indicator 2024. Status of marine fish and shellfish stocks in European seas. https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/status-of-marine-fish-and
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STECF (2023). The 2023 Annual Economic Report (AER) on the EU fishing fleet (STEFC 23-07). https://stecf.ec.europa.eu/data-dissemination/aer_en
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FAO (2024). FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture - FishStatJ - Software for Fishery and Aquaculture Statistical Time Series. In: FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Division [online]. Rome. https://www.fao.org/fishery/en/statistics/software/fishstatj
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