Short circuits

A combination of one-to-one engagement with local fisheries businesses, networking them with each other and the provision of business mentoring support has helped improve the supply of local fish into the Northern Devon market and create new economic activities.

The area covers 11 municipalities and is located in the basin of the Odra river and its tributaries: the Nysa Kłodzka, the Mała Panew and the Stobrawa. The area is largely rural and has strong links with the fishing tradition. There are many active fishermen and NGOs dealing with fisheries culture, history, promotion of local fish products and education.

The “Cabaz do mar” or basket of the sea is a short chain marketing scheme set up by a partnership between TAIPA, a local development company, and an association of inhabitants and fishermen in Azenha do Mar.

Three FLAGs from the Pomorskie region have helped create a new platform for fishermen to promote and sell their products by reviving the ancient tradition of the fish market, which had previously existed in Gdansk from 1343 until 1945. The market is open in August, at the height of the tourist season.

During a public consultation on the development of the Larnaca Famagusta FLAG strategy (2007/2014), local fishermen expressed a desire to acquire new knowledge and skills in areas that would help them to diversify their sources of income.

The FLAG area is located on the Atlantic coast in the north of Portugal and covers 12 local administrative units in three municipalities. These municipalities have traditionally had strong economic, social and cultural links with the sea (fishing, fish markets, fish processing, canning, aquatic and nautical sports and seafood restaurants).

The FLAG is located on the Baltic coast of Schleswig-Holstein. It covers the eastern part of the Wagrien peninsula and Fehmarn, the third biggest island in Germany. Fehmarn is linked to the mainland by the Fehmarnsund bridge and has the most used ferry connection for both the Germans and Danes to the nearby port of Rødby on the island of Falster in Denmark, lying on the Hamburg-Copenhagen axis.

The FLAG area covers the entire municipality of Norddjurs, which is notable for its long coastline, made up of sandy beaches – like much of the Danish coastline. This flat coastal landscape attracts tourists from Norway and Germany – as well as domestic visitors. Tourism is the area’s dominant sector. Fishermen struggle now to make a living, but there has been an increase in the number of small businesses processing seaweed, for both food and nonfood uses.

The North Sardinia FLAG wishes to cooperate with FLAGs concerned with new start-up models led by young people, fishermen’s relatives or young people leaving secondary schools who want to create self-employment opportunities.

The Bothhian Sea and Lake Pyhäjärvi FLAG from the south of Finland is open to cooperation ideas. The FLAG has long-term experience in lake fisheries and in the development of fisheries with a strong link to water quality management.