Italy I1 Socio-economic Profile


1 Italy I1
1.1 Overview

The area defined as Italy I1 region covers the Italian coastline  from Liguria in the North to Calabria in the South.  In 1997 there were 4,685 vessels (29% of national total) in the Tyrrhenian fleet with a total tonnage of  48,930 GRT (20% of national total).  The fleet is broadly divided into 368 bottom trawlers, 142 purse seiners, 675 mulitpurpose trawlers and 3,425 small scale vessels.

The fleet is evenly distributed along the coastline , the greatest fleet numbers are found in Napoli where there are 741 vessels (8,057 GRT) and the province of Salerno with 595 vessels (6,306 GRT).  Together with the provinces of Roam and Reggio Calabria these four provinces account for 48% of the total vessels and tonnage. There has been an 11% drop in tonnage since 1991

In 1997 the Tyrrhenian fleet landed 63,713 tonnes of fish valued at 251,305,655 ECU. The landings of the purse seining fleet consisted mainly of sardines and anchovies accounting for 27% of total landings, 50% of the sardines landed go to local processors.  Landings of small vessels are often sold direct to the retailer and accounting for 21% of the total landings.

The Italian processing sector is broadly divided into the small scale artisanal processing and the larger scale industrial processing.  There are 393 processing firms in Italy, and 40 industrial canning firms which are increasingly reliant on imports of raw material. Tuna canning is coming under pressure from cheaper third country imports.  Sardine processing is also under pressure from imports, production in 1997 was only 2,000 tonnes. There was an increase in production of salted anchovy products but a decrease in the production of anchovy fillets in oil.

Within the I1 region  there are 130 processing enterprises;  33% of the national total.  The processing sector in I1 concentrates on tuna and sardines.  Anchovy processing tends to occur on the Adriatic coastline,
Production of processed tuna amounted to 34,000 tonnes in 1997 which accounted for 70% by volume and 65% by value of the total I1 production.  Sardines were the other main output.

1.2 Coastal Fishing Employment

There are over 10,000 fishers in the I1 area of Italy; all of these are recorded as full time and as men. The greatest numbers are found in the Southern regions of Campania where there are almost 3,000 fishers (29% of I1 total) and in Calabria where there are 2,309 fishers which represents 23% of the I1 total.   The NUTS 3 area of Napoli in Campania has the greatest number of fishers with almost 1,700 men employed in fishing,  whilst in Salerno there are 1,225 fishers.  

Fishing has been a traditional vocation.  However more recent entrants to the fishing have not necessarily come from marine backgrounds and some of the less qualified fishing persons employed have been filled by North African immigrants.  The level of education of Italian fishers is low, with only 15% of fishers having completed secondary education.
1.3 Processing Employment

The processing sector provides employment for 2,847 people. In contrast to the harvesting sector, many of these are part time workers, 17%  of the total are women part time workers and 7%  of the total are men part time workers. In terms of employment numbers the greatest number of persons employed is found in the NUTS 3 area of Genova with 716 persons employed.  By contrast to the harvesting sector many of the processing persons employed are found in the Northern area of the region and a significant number of persons employed are located inland.  There are over 950 people employed in the inland region of Lombardia, where the NUTS 3 area of Milan (295 persons employed) and Como ( 530 persons employed) are situated. Processing employment in the Southern regions are spread more evenly with 83 persons employed in Napoli, 123 in Salerno and 455 in Latina.  It estimated that processing plants are running at 55-60% of capacity.

1.4 Vessel Construction and Repair

There are 1,132 persons employed in the construction and  maintenance industry,  these areas are mainly concentrated in Campania (260 workers) where the largest concentration is in the NUTS 3 area of Napoli with 184 workers and in the NUTS 3 area of Genova, Liguria where there are 165 workers. Women make up 9% of the workforce.

1.5 Marine Aquaculture Employment

The Marine aquaculture sector employs 1,795 people in I1 which represents 21% of the National total.  Production businesses tend to be small and family run, allowing for flexiblity
Within the region there are 50 sites farming euryhaline species, (fish able to tolerate fresh and salt water), and a further 120 sites farming mussels.    

Grossetto in Tuscany has 10 euryhaline sites which provides employment for 86 persons and Livorno has 3 euryhaline sites providing  employment for 16.

The largest concentration of mussels farms occurs in Liguria where there were 68 licenses granted and employment for 135 persons. There were a further 43 licences in  Napoli where 234 people were employed in smaller traditional mussel farms under 1 ha in size.

1.6 Inland Aquaculture Employment

Inland aquaculture mostly consists of trout farms (589 in I1)
There are 1,044 people employed in inland aquaculture in I1,  86% of these are located in the Northern regions of Piemonte and Lombardia.