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SCOPUS 2023
UN SDG
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Aquaculture Studies 2021, Vol 21, Num, 4
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Black Sea Aquaculture: Legacy, Challenges & Future Opportunities

Fabio Massa 1 ,Ilhan Aydın 2 ,Davide Fezzardi 3 ,Bilal Akbulut 4 ,Alexander Atanasoff 5 ,Atife Tuba Beken 4 ,Vitaliy Bekh 6 ,Yuliia Buhlak 7 ,Irina Burlachenko 8 ,Erkan Can 9 ,Stefano Carboni 10 ,Fabrizio Caruso 11 ,Murat Dağtekin 12 ,Kostiantyn Demianenko 13 ,Hayri Deniz 14 ,Dilek Fidan 15 ,Linda Fourdain 16 ,Marco Frederiksen 17 ,Archil Guchmanidze 18 ,Housam Hamza 19 ,Jessica Harvey 20 ,Magda Nenciu 21 ,Galin Nikolov 22 ,Victor Niţă 21 ,Muhammed Doğan Özdemir 4 ,Elitsa Petrova-Pavlova 23 ,Gabriel Popescu 24 ,Ferit Rad 25 ,Şafak Seyhaneyildiz Can 26 ,John A. Theodorou 7 ,Behnan Thomas 17 ,Nicolò Tonachella 27 ,Ekaterina Tribilustova 17 ,Irina Yakhontova 8 ,Ahmet Faruk Yesilsu 28 ,Güzel Yücel-Gier 26

1 Senior Expert on Aquaculture, 00136, Rome, Italy,
2 General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies, 06800, Ankara, Turkey
3 Senior Expert on Aquaculture, 00166, Rome, Italy
4 Central Fisheries Research Institute, Aquaculture Department, 61250, Yomra, Trabzon, Turkey
5 Trakia University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, 6014, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
6 National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Aquaculture Department, 03041, Kyiv, Ukraine
7 University of Patras, Department of Animal Production, Fisheries & Aquaculture, 30200, Messolonghi, Greece
8 Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), Department of Aquaculture, Moscow, Russian Federation
9 İzmir Kâtip Celebi University, Faculty of Fisheries, Department of Aquaculture, 35620, İzmir, Turkey
10 Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, FK9 4LA, United Kingdom
11 M.A.R.E. Società Cooperativa a r.l., 47841, Cattolica, Rimini, Italy
12 Central Fisheries Research Institute, Agricultural Economy Department, 61250, Yomra, Trabzon, Turkey
13 Institute of Fisheries and Marine Ecology (IFME), 71118, Berdyansk, Ukraine
14 Muğla Fish Farmers Association, 48670, Güllük Milas, Muğla, Turkey
15 Central Fisheries Research Institute, Environmental and Resource Management Department, 61250, Yomra, Trabzon, Turkey
16 Aquaculture Expert, 03003, Alicante, Spain
17 Eurofish International Organisation, DK-1553, Copenhagen V, Denmark
18 Association Flora and Fauna, Batumi, Georgia
19 General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), 00193, Rome, Italy
20 Pontus Research Ltd., Hirwaun, Aberdare CF44 9UP, United Kingdom
21 National Institute for Marine Research and Development “Grigore Antipa“, Marine Living Resources Department, 900581, Constanța, Romania
22 Executive Agency of Fisheries and Aquaculture, 8000 Burgas, Bulgaria
23 Institute of Fish Resources, 9000 Varna, Bulgaria
24 National Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Constanța Maritime Policies and Inspections Department, 900690, Constanța, Romania
25 University of Mersin, Faculty of Fisheries, Department of Aquaculture, 33150, Mersin, Turkey
26 Dokuz Eylül University, Institute of Marine Sciences and Technology, 35340 Inciralti-İzmir, Turkey
27 Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA) - Research Centre for Animal Production and Aquaculture, 00015, Monterotondo, Rome, Italy
28 Central Fisheries Research Institute, Food Technology Department, 61250, Yomra, Trabzon, Turkey DOI : 10.4194/2618-6381-v21_4_05 Viewed : 14277 - Downloaded : 6377 Responsible aquaculture, the farming of aquatic organisms, is a sustainable strategic sector for land and coastal communities. It significantly contributes to food security and enhancement of economic development; it provides employment opportunities and often contributes to the ecological services provided by the environment. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the contribution of aquaculture to the global food security is widely demonstrated by an astounding industry growth of 7.5% per year since 1970. In 2018, aquaculture reached the all-time highest production of 114.5 million tonnes in live weight with a total farm gate sale value of USD 263.6 billion. This makes aquaculture a key player within the Blue Growth concept and a strong contributor to some of its key Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). This is particularly true in geographical areas where dependence of local economies on fishery products is high, and yet access to sustainable landings is hampered by ecological barriers. One such area is represented by the Black Sea basin. Whilst the Black Sea annual capture fishery production has varied considerably since 1990 and its current landings are significant, growing attention is currently given to boost aquaculture development along the Black Sea bordering countries, with marine aquaculture being considered as an important contributor to the total fisheries production. Nonetheless, aquaculture development in this region is not homogenous and its development has, so far, been limited by environmental, economic, social, and more generally governance issues.

This paper, for the first time, attempts to provide a comprehensive fresh outlook of the aquaculture sector in the Black Sea, stressing the importance of regional cooperation as an essential pillar to support the sustainable development of the industry. The paper addresses aquaculture in the Black Sea from different perspectives: it outlines the key characteristics of the Black Sea environment; it discusses the most common farmed aquatic species and the potential for new ones; it frames the national approaches to aquaculture development, sharing information about success stories, while shedding light on the main challenges and priorities ahead. This collective endeavour will represent a helpful contribution to Black Sea riparian countries to answer the many questions they have, and expectations they hold from the aquaculture sector. Keywords : Black Sea Aquaculture Marine spatial planning Stock enhancement Diversification