The hydrography of the region is characterised by water inflow from the Eastern Mediterranean (entering from the Otranto channel along the Eastern Adriatic coast)

Following a brief introduction to some principal characteristics of the Adriatic Sea, the paper focuses on two main aspects of Adriatic Sea fisheries: fishery production and the fishing fleet. The evolution of capture fisheries landings over thirty years (1970-2000) is outlined: demersal and pelagic fishery production is compared and the quantities landed of some key shared stocks are described. The evolution of the Adriatic fishing fleet is reported in terms of number of fishing units, length category and fishing technique. The importance of basic reliable, comparable and easily integrated statistics is underlined; in the case of Adriatic shared fisheries the need for international cooperation is fundamental together with increased multidisciplinary analysis for the management of shared fishery stocks for the achievement of effective sub-regional fishery management. 1. Brief introduction to the Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea is a semi-enclosed basin within the larger semi-enclosed sea constituted by the Mediterranean, it extends over 138000 km (Buljan and Zore-Armanda, 1976) it may be seen as characterised by Northern, Central and Southern sub-basins with decreasing depth from the south toward the north. Along the longitudinal axis of the Adriatic geomorphological and ecological changes can be observed, resulting in the remarkable differences of the northern and southern ends. Six countries, whose coastline development differs greatly, border the Adriatic. Some key-features of Adriatic coastal states for which marine fisheries are relevant are given in Table 1. The Adriatic is characterised by the largest shelf area of the Mediterranean, which extends over the Northern and Central parts where the bottom depth is no more than about 75 and 100 m respectively, with the exception of the Pomo/Jabuka Pit (200-260 m) in the Central Adriatic. The Southern Adriatic has a relatively narrow continental shelf and a marked, steep slope; it reaches the maximum depth of 1223 m (Figure 1). In the Adriatic Sea all types of bottom sediments are found, muddy bottoms are mostly below a depth of 100 m, while in the Central and Northern Adriatic the shallower sea bed is characterised by relict sand (Alfirević, 1981). The Eastern and Western coasts are very different; the former is high, rocky and articulated with many islands, the Western coast is flat and alluvional with raised terraces in some areas (Bombace, 1990). FAO-AdriaMed. Corso Umberto I, 30 86039 Termoli (CB) Italy; Email: [email protected] 1 Semi-enclosed and enclosed seas are here defined according to Art. 122 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) as follows: “... a gulf, maritime basin or sea surrounded by two or more States and linked to another sea or to the ocean via narrow straits of exit, or entirely or mostly made up of territorial seas and exclusive economic zones of two or more coastal States”. 14 The hydrography of the region is characterised by water inflow from the Eastern Mediterranean (entering from the Otranto channel along the Eastern Adriatic coast) and fresh water runoff from Italian rivers. These features seasonally produce both latitudinal and longitudinal gradients in hydrographic characteristics along the basin (Buljan and ZoreArmanda, 1979; Artegiani et al., 1981). Table 1. Some data on Adriatic coastal states participating in AdriaMed. Notes Albania Croatia Italy SerbiaMontenegro Slovenia Coastline*(km) The total length of the boundary between the land area (including islands) and the sea. 362 5835 (mainland 1777 km, islands 4058 km) 7600 (inclusive of Ionian and Tyrrhenian coastline) 199 47 Population* (July 2002 est.) 3 544 841 4 390 751 57 715 625 10 656 929 1 930 132 Population growth rate* Annual population growth rate. 1.06% (2002 est.) 1.12% (2002 est.) 0.05% (2002 est.) -0.12% (2002 est.) 0.14% (2001 est.) Gross Domestic Product (GDP real growth rate)* Measure of the economy of a country; the total market values of goods and services produced and capital within the country borders during a given period. 7.3% (2001 est.) 4% (2001 est.) 1.8% (2001 est.) 3.5% (2002 est.) 4.5% (2000 est.) Education index, 1999 ** Based on the adult literacy rate and the combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio. 0.80 0.88 0.94 n.a. 0.94 Human development index (HDI) value, 1999 ** A composite index measuring average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development—a long and healthy life, education and knowledge and an acceptable standard of living. 0.72 0.80 0.90 n.a. 0.87 Urban population (as % of total) 1999 ** The mid-year population of areas defined as urban in each country, as reported to the United Nations. 41 57.3 66.9 n.a. 50.3 Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births) 1999 ** The probability of dying between birth and exactly one year of age expressed per 1,000 live births. 29 8 6 17* 5 Diffusion of recent innovations: Internet hosts (per 1,000 people) ** A computer system connected to the Internet 0.1 6.7 30.4 n.a. 20.3 Personal computers (per 1,000 people) *** 8 (2001 est.) 86 (2001 est.) 195 (2001 est.) 23 (2000 est.) 276 (2001 est.) Agriculture, value added (% of GDP) *** Agriculture corresponds to International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) divisions 1-5 and includes forestry, hunting and fishing, as well as cultivation of crops and livestock production. The net output of the agriculture sector after adding up all outputs and subtracting intermediate inputs. 31 (2001 est.) 10 (2001 est.) 3 (2001 est.) 15 (2000 est.) 3 (2001 est.) Industry, value added (% of GDP) *** Industry corresponds to ISIC divisions 10-45. It comprises value added in mining, construction, electricity, water, and gas. 23 (2001 est.) 34 (2001 est.) 29 (2001 est.) 32 (2000 est.) 38 (2001 est.) Services, etc., value added (% of GDP) *** Services correspond to ISIC divisions 50-99 and they include value added in wholesale and retail trade (including hotels and restaurants), transport and government, financial, professional and personal services such as education, health care and real estate services. 42 (2001 est.) 56 (2001 est.) 68 (2001 est.) 52 (2002 est.) 59 (2001 est.) Per caput fish supply (Kg/year, 1997-99) **** Data should be regarded as giving only an order of magnitude indication of consumption levels. 2.0 4.3 21.9 2.7 6.7 *The CIA World Fact-book: Web 2002 Edition (public domain) --http://www.countryreports.org/ --http://www.atlapedia.com/ **UNDP. Human Development Report --http://www.undp.org/hdr2001/indicator/ ***The World Bank --http://devdata.worldbank.org/data-query/ **** FAO Yearbook of Fishery Statistics 2001 --ftp://ftp.fao.org/fi/stat/summ_01/appIybc2001.pdf