engleski

Some Basic Characteristics of Croatian Marine Fisheries and Its Legal Regulation.

It is well known that the Adriatic, as a semiclosed and oligotrophic fishing area, belongs to low production seas. The abundance of individual fish species does not make it a rich sea. However, it is very rich in the number of species and subspecies, of which about 437 have been identified so far. A large number of gear types and methods of operation have been developed due to such a diversity of species. Some fishing gear types have even been named after the species of fish and other organsims they are used for. Of fishing gear used world-wide, with respect to the method of fishing, 14 groups may be distinguished. All of them are in usage in Croatian fishing. Of all the mentioned groups, 55 types and subtypes of nets and other gear types are nowadays used in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea. Having in mind, the commercial importnace of the Adriatic fishing, distribution, spreading and structure of its reneawable stocks, position and methods of fishing, along with fishing vessles and gear, the distinction has been made between bottom, pelagic and coastal fishing. Bottom fishing includes exploitation of benthic and demersal species of fish and marine organsims at greater depths and flat substrates. This means that exploited biocenoses are either the sea bottom ones or depend on it for their life. Pelagic fishing includes the exploitation of pelagic species, particularly small and big pelagic fish. Coastal fishing includes the catch of fish and other marine organsims within the belt of one Nm off the mainland coast or island coasts and in shoals (reefs). Of 55 net types and subtypes and other fishing gear, all are in use in coastal fishing, except tuna purse seines, pelagic trawls, floating lon-lines, trolls for fishing tuna and relatives used in pelagic fishing, open sea bottom tarwls and dredge of rampon type for fishing of Pecten jacobaeus. According to the Law of Marine Fisheries of the republic of Croatia (Narodne novine 46/97), commercial, small-scale and fishing for sports and recreation may be distinguished. The small scale fishing is performed for ones own nneds and catch by the small-scale gear must not be traded (Narodne novine, 46/97). It is not a professional activity, and therefore the types and quantity of gear are limited. In small-scale fishing with gillnets, at most 250 m of total length of all kinds of nets are allowed to be operated per fishing vessel. Croatian law of Marine fisheries in force includes also the legal provisions for the monitoring program of the state of populations of fish and other marine organsims of importance for marine fisheries all over the fishing zones or their parts as well as th emonitoring of the quality of marine areas where rearing activities are conducted. Protection of age at first recruitment ic caried out by regulating the minimum size of commercially important species of sih and other marine organisms, below which they must not be caught, collected or traded and the smallest messh size and hook sizes. Our sublegal provision regulates teh minimum mesh size for almost all fishing gear, but since these measures are mostly not based on any research results, but on fishing practice itself, the catches comprise considerable percentages of immature specimens, which for a lot of gear types exceed the 20% limit. Therefore, a lot of gear types are held to be harmful.Even though Croatian legislation does not explicitly mention fishing effort as a measure of fishing regulation, a lot of regulations provided by the Law, which aim at proper management of living resources of the sea, are in function of regulating and monitoring fishing effort. One of the protection measures that controls better the fishing effort, is lay down of fishing ban and closed seasons in some areas. We belive that with establishing of special habitats of fish and other marine organisms and having all fishing and some fishing gear types forbidden permanently or for certain period during the year, would make far more efficient measure. Sublegal regulations govern closed seasons only for three crab species, common spiny lobster, European lobster and spider crab, not for a single fish. The closed season is held to be one of the significant protective measures and it should be applied to some commercially important fish species for better protection and management of fishes in the eastern Adriatic.

legal regulation; Croatian marine fisheries

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