Fish stock and the fisheries of the Adriatic

Abstract

       The Adriatic is poorer in nutritient salts than the northern, and even some Mediterranean seas. However, the degree of the utilization of the Adriatic, taken on the whole, is three times higher than in English Channel, and it gives the greatest catch per unit of surface in the Mediterranean.

       The degree of the utilization of the Adriatic, taken of the whole, in 1961 was 1166 kg of fish and eatable invertebrate-animals per 1 km² of surface. It is incomparably higher than the possible optimum catch in the Mediterranean (600-800 kg/km²). The achieved catch of the Italian fishermen (922 kg/km²) represents their maximal catch, while on our coast, it is considerably under the maximal catch in the Mediterranean (244 kg/km²). This datum shows that the latent reserves for the further increase in production are situated along the eastern Adriatic coast.

       Consequently, the whole fish catch on our coast could be increased for more than 50%, if various economic causes and factors, which dictate our production today, would permit that. Since the whole production along our coast was 20.000 tons in 1960, according to our calculations, it is possible to increase the whole catch for the same quantitq, e. g. from the existing 20 to 40 thousand tons of fish and eatable invertebrate-animals.