Adri.SmArtFish Project
The Smartfish project (Valorisation of SMall-scales ARTisanal FISHery of the Adriatic coasts, in a context of sustainability) is a co-funded Interreg Italy-Croatia Programme project. It's about Small Scale artisanal Fisheries or SSF, the kind of fisheries using vessels less than 12 meters long without trawlers.
This is one of the the uprising economic sub-sector of fisheries, because it doesn't harm the marine environment and it is closely linked to local traditions, as well as being respectful of the dynamics of sustainable development as it has less impact on fish stocks. It therefore has enormous potential in terms of sustainable growth and employment, in harmony with the marine environment, and is recognized as an essential tool for Blue growth (blue growth, all those sustainable economic growth activities linked to the marine and oceanic environment).
The sector represents 50% of the Italian fleet and 90% of the Croatian fleet in the Adriatic. The challenge is to exploit the enormous potential of small-scale fishing, which has so far been little appreciated compared to trawling or dredging.
The project actions aim to promote small-scale artisanal fishing as it respects the balance of the marine environment and biodiversity, as well as overcoming the difficulties of access to the market, the low level of consumer prices and the growing management costs.
The goals of the Smartfish project
- Create an organic framework of knowledge on the state of the art of the small-scale fishing sector in the Upper Adriatic, with a network of research centers, economic operators and stakeholders.
- Promote sustainable innovation in the small-scale fishery supply chain.
- Create a shared protocol for a more sustainable small-scale artisanal fishery.
- Give more visibility to the market of small-scale artisanal fishing.
- Create a cross-border collaboration between the operators in the sector.
- Improve institutional collaboration to simplify legislation.
Project partners
Project and Lead Partner of the project is the Veneto Region. The partners are:
- Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region
- Emilia-Romagna Region
- Marche Region
- Istrian Region
- Primorje-Gorski Region (Primorska-Montana)
- Zadar Region
- University of Venice Cà Foscari
- Izor - Split Oceanographic Institute
- Ministry of Agriculture - Fishing Section of the Croatian Republic.
The total project budget is over 3.2 million euros and the share available for Emilia-Romagna is 375,000.00 euros.
People involved in the project for Emilia-Romagna:
Piergiorgio Vasi, project manager tel. 051/5276353 piergiorgio.vasi@regione.emilia-romagna.it
Luca Chiodini, communication manager tel. 051/5274627 luca.chiodini@regione.emilia-romagna.it
GOOD NEWS!
We just released a video about our activities, goals and achievements, you can find it on youtube channel and here.