Short circuits

The Aveiro FLAG coincides with the Aveiro lagoon (“Ria de Aveiro”), the biggest lagoon in Portugal (60km long and 25km wide) which is a 'Bird Directive Site' included in the European Natura 2000 network. Several small-scale fishing communities can be found in five municipalities along the coast and lagoon (Ovar, Murtosa, Aveiro, Ílhavo and Vagos).

The area is defined by the Ria Formosa (which covers five municipalities), a natural river system, structuring the landscape and ecological systems, which gives the Sotavento its own characteristics. The Eastern Algarve is home to the largest wetland in southern Portugal, 11,000 hectares large stretching along approximately 60 km of coastline between Ancão (Loulé) and Manta Rota (Vila Real de Santo António). It forms a lagoon-estuarine system with a wide area of marshes, islands and channels protected by robust sand ridges, which form two peninsulas (Ancão and Cacela) and five barrier islands (Barreta, Culatra, Armona, Tavira and Cabanas).

The FLAG area extends over a coastal area of 35km and covers five parishes in two municipalities. This territory is noted for its traditional small-scale fisheries. This is a predominantly agricultural area with a growing tourist sector thanks to its accessible beaches.

Open natural areas, idyllic villages, extensive avenues, castles and manor houses dominate the landscape. The economy of this area traditionally consisted of agriculture, the food industry and tourism.

The region is in the northern part of Saxony, close to the border of the federal states of Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt; it has a typical agricultural landscape with several protected areas.

The area is situated in the south-west part of the Baltic Sea. It is a popular tourist destination. The fisheries sector here is still important, though it is generally declining.

The coastal and inland rural area of “Hügelland am Ostseestrand” is located on the Baltic coast of Schleswig-Holstein around the Bay of “Eckernförde”, an important fisheries area. It is close to Kiel; the capital of Schleswig-Holstein and the Kiel canal borders the region in the south.

The FLAG area covers the coast of the Gulf of Finland from Hanko to Virolahti and is well known locally for its beautiful archipelago. The regions fishing tradition, fishing methods, and operational culture have been and remain relatively uniform. There are approximately 110 full-time and 200 part-time professional fishers respectively and the area has five operational fish farms.

The Archipelago Sea has the world's largest inland sea archipelago; the landscape is dominated by over 22,000 islands and the coastline is 12,000 km long. The FLAG has an area of 14,000 km2 and the sea accounts for more than half of this. The region includes both densely populated cities and sparsely populated rural and island areas. Of the 370,000 inhabitants, 30,000 live on the islands. Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the Archipelago Sea every year.

Bothnian Bay is in the northernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia and Baltic Sea. It freezes over completely every winter. There are several forms of fishing found here: mainly trap and gillnet, trawl fishing (when there is no ice), dragnet and net fishing in winter.