Good Practice Short Stories

The FISHEKO Operation, covering the whole coastline of Slovenia, is a project giving local fishers communication training and hiring them to carry out an awareness-raising campaign against single-use plastics in marine activities.

Through cooperation between the island government and the FLAG, the fishing sector in la Gomera has been involved in the study, location and design of a protocol for the removal of traps used for illegal fishing.

The Chioggia and Po Delta FLAG has successfully convinced a high school to launch an official training programme in commercial fishing and fish production. The FLAG used their animation activities, together with fisheries stakeholders and the wider local community, to attract their first groups of students who will become the entrepreneurs of the future.

To restore natural balance to ecosystems on the Swedish archipelago, the Stockholmsbygd FLAG has supported an initiative aimed at reinstating coastal wetlands in an effort to increase pike stocks. Key predators in the Baltic, pike are essential to maintaining biodiversity and healthy waters in the area.

To support the economic revival of the local fishing sector following the COVID-19 crisis, the local fishing communities of the Hauts-de-France region have launched a weekly column in newspapers to promote their seafood products.

As fishing and aquaculture continue to suffer a considerable loss of turnover, a small group of fishers and a fish farmer volunteered to deliver fresh fish to local restaurateurs who, in turn, prepare free-of-charge dishes for hospital staff and people in need.

The Gargano LAG integrated the promotion of cultural and gastronomy heritage into their local development plan. This includes the development and promotion of the seafood sector. To do so, it supported the development of the Pesca Mia app, which connects the seafood sector, restaurants and private consumers.

COVID-19 paralysed many sectors of the economy in the Basque Country. Although the fisheries sector, like other food-producing sectors, was given priority during the pandemic, the lack of security and low-priced seafood could have forced many vessels and fishing organisations to stop working.

Thanks to business advice from Oeste FLAG and national financial support, a fisheries observer who wanted to change his career path has successfully started his own company in Portugal, working with marine plants called halophytes.

Four Sardinian FLAGs have linked up with the University of Cagliari to create a waste management system for efficiently dealing with marine litter caught by local fishers.