Preparation of a fishery strategy for Albania Albania

EuropeAid - Project Dates:
September 2014 - April 2015

Description of Project:
Fisheries in Albania are a relatively small but nevertheless important socio-economic sector. Its employment capacity is not high - put presently at around 2 000 - but these jobs are often located in areas of high unemployment and socio-economic needs. Albania has a mixed fishery - combining marine, lagoon, lacustrine and river fisheries on the one hand, and a mix of larger commercial and small scale operations on the other.

The purpose of the assignment wasto increase the role and contribution of the fishery sector in the economic development of the country, in particular to assist the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Water Administration to prepare the 2014·2020 strategy on fisheries.

Services Provided:

An assessment report was provided on the status of the fishery sector in Albania. The assessment included information on:

Gap analysis on legal framework
Functional review of the fishery sector with special focus on institutional and administrative capacities (incl. staffing, competencies, responsibilities, communication, coordination and reporting) along with the proposal for the structure of fishery administration,
Fish resources management,
Fishery information and statistics (stock assessment and catch statistics)
Fishing fleet and fishing techniques with possible improvements to the information contained in vessel register,
Small coast and inland fisheries,
Lagoon fisheries and management,
Fish research system,
Processing, marketing and trade of fishery products,
Controls and inspections,
Economic costs, competitiveness of the sector and impact of national policies (e.g. tax and fiscal policy)
Fishery infrastructure (markets, harbors, repair centers etc),
Status of aquaculture.

The ultimate purpose of this assignment was to produce a fishery development strategy for the period 2014 - 2020