Overview on some fisheries and aquaculture indicators in the Black Sea Dr.V.Raykov, IO-BAS EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL ENVIRONMENT Directorate D - Water, Marine Environment & Chemicals ENV.D.2 - Marine Environment & Water Industry French ministry for ecology, sustainable development, transport and housing April, 2012

Aims and Background The satus and trends of Black Sea fisheries and aquaculture production in Black Sea region have been reviewed.The present state of fishing fleet, catches and regulated fish stock biomass as wellas trophic level of the catches have been presented and analyzed. For proper fisheries management it is important to know the fishing effort. One of the main problems in the Black Sea region is the lack of comprehensive information on fishing activity, catch quantities and composition and how they affect the current state of fish stocks.

Aims and Background The Black Sea has been subjected to very serious environmental impacts since mid 20th century due to anthropogenic dumping, huge chemical pollution mainly via Danube River, invasive species, nuclear pollution, climate change, over fishing, illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing. Riparian countries use same fishery resources mostly in migratory small pelagics. In case of shared stocks, intergovernmental agreement is unavoidable. After the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union, the Black Sea has become the sovereign responsibility of Common Fishery Policy of EU and GFCM.

Experimental In the present paper analysis of the trend of fishing fleet capacity in the Black Sea region in terms of number of fishing vessels were performed. Total catches of major commercial species by countries, two species (sprat and turbot) commercial fish stocks state and existent measures in the Black Sea region were presented and analyzed. Trophic level of the main pelagic and demercal species was recognized as an important indicator for the contemporary state of the fisheries resources. The marine aquaculture production for the were estimated as low, as Turkey and Ukraine hold the first places as regards total aquaculture production in Black Sea region.

Total catch in Black Sea

RESULTS and DISCUSSION

The Bulgarian and Romanian Annual Reports on the Efforts to Achieve a Sustainable Balance between Fishing Capacity and Fishing Opportunity during 2008 are prepared in accordance with the rules laid down in the Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002, Commission Regulation (EC) No 1438/2002 and Guidelines for an improved analysis of the balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities.

RESULTS and DISCUSSION

Fishing fleet

Indicator: Catches by major species and areas:

Sub indicator:fish landings by major fish type

Biomass and fishing mortality SPRAT

Length frequency composition of turbot

SSBvR, RvSSB, YvF and Yv SSB from landings with IUU catch included (average of ages 4-8 y). F Fmax=

Rapa whelk

Picked dogfish

TAC and quotas in Black Sea

Management instruments States BulgariaGeorgiaRomaniaRussiaTurkeyUkraine Complete ban Periodic ban Total Allowable Catch (TAC) Total Permitted Catch = Limit Minimum admissible size Periods for fishing bans Fishing Free Zones Prohibited fishing gears Allowable mesh size for nets

Data Collection program 2007 – 2011 Pelagic surveys

Demersal surveys

Hydroacoustic survey

Country Biomass MSY (t) (t)GullandBH steepness, F 0.1 Bulgaria Romania in the survey area extrapolated MSY – maximum sustainable yield SPRAT

The Black mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) is the most popular species for artificial cultivation. In 2006 total blue mussel production increased, then decreased toward Major fish species, object for cultivation in Turkey were Sea Bream (Sparus aurata), Sea Bass (Morone morone), trout (Oncorhinchus mykiss), as the majority of production came from the Aegean Sea and small quantities from the Black Sea.Blue mussel production in the Turkish part of the Black Sea has been reported for 2008.

CONCLUSIONS For proper fisheries management it is important to know fishing effort. One of the main problems in the Black sea region is the lack of comprehensive information concerning the fishing activity, catch quantities and composition and how it affects the current state of fish stocks. We are aware that in the Fisheries sector is really difficult to produce authoritative reports on the catch quantities and composition on annual principle, which means that we do not have a clear picture in this matter and the analysis of the current state of the stocks is with a fair approach to accuracy. The communication between responsible authorities and data exchange on regional level is not systematic.