Updated state of small scale fisheries on the Romanian Black Sea area

Abstract

Romanian small-scale fisheries are practiced along the Black Sea coast in five fishing ports (Sulina, Cape Midia, Tomis, Constanta and Mangalia) and 18 other small fishing stations, located between Sulina - Vama Veche, at depths ranging between 2 - 20 m and sometimes up to 50 m, when practicing specialized turbot fisheries. Of significant importance is fishing with divers for the Rapana venosa, the species with the greatest impact on the landed catches. In the coastal area, between Vama Veche and Sulina, which also represents an important area for the reproduction, feeding and rearing of some important fish species, the small-scale fishing is practiced with fixed and active gear, throughout the year, mainly using the following types of fishing gears: pound nets, gillnets, longlines, beach seines, cages/traps, handlines and from 2013 with beam trawl. Catch and fishery productivity vary yearly, depending on environmental conditions, fishing effort, status of main commercial species, and human factors. During the analyzed period (2019 - 2023), catches in shallow waters were between 7149 and 3127 tons, which has an increasing trend compared to the previous period (2012 – 2017).