The Albanian government is negotiating a soft loan with the Italian government worth Euro 25 million, which will be used to increase the mooring capacity in the Fishing Port of Durrës, the construction of a fish market in Durrës and in Saranda, as well as the support of small artisanal fishing on the coast with the construction of 7 landing sites (production landing centers), the Deputy Minister of Agriculture for Fisheries, Roland Kristo said.

Fishing is a sector with different features related to the forms of fishing, its characteristics, the areas where it takes place, etc. Professional commercial fishing is marine fishing, which is the most important part from an economic point of view.

Artisanal commercial fishing is fishing with vessels below 12 meters that is carried out on the coast, in natural and artificial lakes, and is of social importance, said Kristo for Monitor, adding that marine fishing is at a high degree of formalization related to the fuel supply scheme and sells production with a VAT invoice.

“This formalization has created the conditions of a fair competition between the actors where all fishing operators pay the obligations related to the number of employees, taxes, and duties and of course sell the production with tax invoices,” added the deputy minister.

He also noted that aquaculture is also an important sector in Albania, whose role is increasingly growing following the world trend where production from aquaculture has an increase of about 14%, against a decrease in employment from fishing.

In conditions where the demand for fish products will double worldwide by 2030, this need will always be covered more by the growth of fish (aquaculture) than by its occupation, Kristo noted, adding that the increasing pollution from human activities, habitat degradation, non-indigenous species, overfishing and the impacts of climate change on the marine environment and ecosystems threaten the sustainability of fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

Based on the GFCM report "The State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries 2022" most commercial stocks (73%) are fished outside biologically sustainable limits and fishing pressure is still twice the level considered sustainable.

However, fishing pressure in the Mediterranean and Black Seas has decreased by an average of 21% over the last decade, and for some priority species subject to management measures, by up to 75%.

The effects of this reduction are beginning to show in increasing the biomass of some stocks, but it is not yet sufficient to produce a significant region-wide increase in fish biomass for stocks that are considered below ideal biomass levels.

Fishing in Albania does not escape this trend in the Mediterranean and the policies that are being implemented are aimed at reducing fishing effort, closing fishing areas, creating areas protected from fishing, as well as drafting measures for specific species, at the national level in line with international measures, Kristo said.

The deputy minister also said that the port infrastructure in Albania is still limited and creates difficulties in the normal development of fishing activity. Fishing vessels are relatively old (the average age of our fleet is over 43 years compared to the EU average of 30 years).

On the other hand, Kristo noted that the year 2022 was the year of Russia's attack on Ukraine. The price of fuel rose to record levels and brought about a drastic decrease in fishing days and of course a decrease in production. Only for the period February - April 2022, the number of fishing days was 1,300 days less than the same period in 2021. The same trend was also for the period May - June, bringing almost the total ban of sea fishing.

Furthermore, Kristo said that the increase in the price of oil in the stock market has had effects on the fishing of all countries. The European Union took several measures to mitigate the effects of the increase in the price of oil on the stock market.