This article was prepared within the framework of the Project “4 BIZ-Boosting the Blue Economy in the Black Sea Region by Initiating a Business Collaboration Framework in the field of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Coastal and Maritime Tourism and Maritime Transport” (EMFAF-2021-PIA-FLAGSHIP).
The project aims to develop a collaboration framework that will bring together Blue Economy stakeholders in EU and eligible non-EU Black Sea countries to identify and tackle local capacity building needs to boost innovation, digitalization and investment in the Black Sea Blue Economy with the main focus on fisheries and aquaculture, coastal and maritime tourism, and maritime transport.
The Blue Economy is a gateway to sustainable economic growth and jobs, and has a great potential for socioeconomic impact, not only for coastal and maritime regions. The Blue Economy integrates both traditional sectors such as maritime transport, aquaculture and the most innovative ones such as blue biotechnology and ocean energy.
The Blue Economy is playing an important role in achieving the European Green Deal ambitions. It demands concerted efforts and consistent actions on all levels. Boosting the Blue Businesses in the Black Sea Region in fact is forwarded to all countries from the Black Sea Basin and only coordinated initiatives and investments considering the local difficulties or advantages could have significant outcomes.
The Black Sea is an important year-round transportation artery, linking the eastern European countries with world markets. Odessa, the historic Ukrainian city, together with the nearby port of Illichivsk, account for most of the sea’s freight turnover. The ports of Novorossiysk and, to a lesser extent, Tuapse (both in Russia) and Batumi (Georgia) farther to the east specialize in petroleum. In Bulgaria, Varna and Burgas are the main ports. Constanța, in Romania, connects oil-bearing regions with foreign markets. Istanbul on the Sea of Marmara is Turkey’s main port, while the Danube acts as a huge trade artery for the Balkan countries.
Fish constitute the most widely utilized biological resource of the Black Sea. Conservation and antipollution measures have included the banning of dolphin fishing, enacted by Soviet authorities in 1966, as well as restrictions on oil tankers and the disposal of industrial wastes. In the 1990s the six Black Sea countries signed the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution (also called Bucharest Convention), a comprehensive agreement to implement an array of additional programs to control pollution, sustain the fisheries, and protect marine life.
Finally, the magnificent climate and mineral springs around the Black Sea have made it a major recreational and recuperative centre, with Crimea being the most important region. The sandy beaches of Bulgaria and Romania also have attracted an increasing number of tourists.
The Black Sea region is regarded as a ‘strategic bridge’ an economic, geo-political and trade corridor of strategic importance, connecting to the Mediterranean Sea via the Marmara and Aegean Seas, and Europe with Asia to the Caspian Sea, Central Asia and the Middle East and with south-east Asia and China. It is a dynamic, heterogeneous region of political, economic and diversified societal cultures characterised by the countries’ close ties and their great economic potential, but also by diverging interests.
The wider Black Sea region comprises three European Union (EU) Member States (Bulgaria, Greece and Romania), three candidate countries for EU membership (Albania, Serbia, Turkey), five Eastern partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine), and the Russian Federation.
The Black Sea region is an important crossroads through which many goods transit. It is an economic area with a potential for blue growth. The region accounts for more than 34% of natural gas and oil imports to the EU; these are mostly produced onshore but recently there has also been development in offshore areas, i.e. Romania 8% of its overall production is offshore crude, Bulgaria etc.
The semi-enclosed area offers a privileged environment for the development of the maritime activities. Tourism also bears importance for the littoral states and accounts for a significant share of the generated Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Fishing and aquaculture also represent important economic activities at regional level with differences between the States. The combination of different human activities performed in the same semi-enclosed area requires good planning, and an even greater cooperation between countries due to the narrowness of the basin.
One of the most important activities of the above mentioned project was the mapping process and the evaluation of the main actors participating in the Blue Economy in the Black Sea basin, as well as the business needs in three sectors:
Fisheries and aquaculture
Coastal and maritime tourism
Maritime transport.
The analysed countries are Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Türkiye and Ukraine. The study used two methodological approaches to describe the current situation and derived key conclusions and recommendations, respectively (1) analysis of secondary data provided by various national and international institutions and (2) quantitative research findings (questionnaire with companies and key stakeholders in the fisheries and aquaculture, coastal and maritime tourism, and maritime transport sectors).
The main conclusion from the survey and the research conducted in this project is that there must be a common strategic approach to the development of the Blue Economy at the national level.
Concrete measures to be implemented on regional level include:
Establishing a business accelerator to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the Blue Economy sectors of small and medium-sized enterprises. Priority directions in which business initiatives should be encouraged include:
Research and development of new innovative technologies, including artificial intelligence technologies, to support the Blue Economy;
Research and development for integrated coastal and maritime management;
Development and implementation of innovative technologies for sustainable fishing and ecological aquaculture;
Development and promotion of maritime tourism services related to the history of the sea, the marine environment, cultural-historical heritage, and integration of tourism activities with fisheries;
Education: cross-sectoral collaboration for joint training programs on new skills in the Blue Economy (e.g. offshore energy, bioeconomy, etc.), organization of awareness campaigns and promotion of blue career opportunities – organization of Blue Career Days involving companies, research institutions, universities and all relevant stakeholders. Expanding the activities of the existing Virtual Blue Career Center; there is a shortage of qualified professionals with new skills for the Blue Economy (for example offshore energy, bioeconomy, environmental monitoring etc.);
Organization and holding of international conferences and exhibitions, national events, round tables, support initiatives and projects in favour of a low-carbon Blue Economy, circular economy and the protection of biodiversity and existing ecosystems;
Development and participation in the implementation of national and international projects and support initiatives in favour of a low-carbon Blue Economy, circular economy and the protection of biodiversity and existing ecosystems;
Creation of a transnational network platform for sharing and exchanging good practices and knowledge on the use of innovative technological developments to support the Blue Economy;
Development and implementation of a web portal to provide information on sustainable innovations and technologies for Black Sea aquaculture and fisheries;
Facilitate presence in new markets through targeted internationalisation support, including the organization and hosting of trade missions during exhibitions and in collaboration with maritime clusters from other regions in the field of maritime transport, maritime and coastal tourism, fishing and aquaculture;
Develop procedures for fast and efficient coordination in the case of natural disasters or accidents at sea;
Maritime companies need additional support to establish new business contacts and enter new markets.
Improve the availability and quality of data, the cooperation in sharing of data for water quality, biodiversity statistics, assessment of fish and non-fish living resources of the Black Sea, etc. Innovation Strategy is designed to bring together (national, regional, EU) regulations and permits, combined with new monitoring and information technologies, enhanced transparency and innovative enforcement;
Improve collaboration among business and academia, with the participation of public administrations, business support organization and end-users to solve specific economic and/or societal challenges (student hackathons, framework of collaboration with the universities/ research organisations, co-creation workshops, etc);
Development of Short Sea Shipping and related multimodal transport, which would generate demand for the local shipbuilding industry for example to build new generation small vessels. This demand could create additional business opportunities for the high value-added shipbuilding and ship repair industry and increase economic activity throughout the value chain of suppliers and distributors. The main measures to improve short sea shipping are related to:
Technical and infrastructural aspects: shorter clearance times at ports, more efficient customs operations and administrative procedures, and more favorable port prices.
Commercial aspects: better integration of short sea shipping into the supply chain practices through better information and reliability improvements.
Political aspects: policies to internalize the external costs of transport modes, ending preferential treatment through customs procedures in favor of land transport. This also includes harmonization of rules for land and sea transport of dangerous goods.
Improving infrastructure for fisheries and aquaculture – the existing port infrastructure needs to be adapted and modernised to meet the needs of the fleet; there is a need to build new marinas and boat docks for the fishing boats, which would promote the development of the sector;
Support digitization to gain a competitive advantage, not only for better control and detailed traceability, but also as a tool to create and/or increase value.
Throughout the discussions and workshops on maritime issues and the Blue Economy, a consensus was reached that there should be a general strategic approach encompassing all sectors related to the Blue Economy and that a common maritime strategy is needed for the development of the Blue Economy. This need for a common approach stems from the cross-cutting issues between the different sectors.
Gabriela Ţigu
Elena Preda
Vasile Strat
Andreea Daniela Giuca
Vlad Diaconescu
Academia de Studii Economice din Bucuresti
Source: https://www.topbusinessnews.ro December 11
*This Project has received funding from the European Union’s European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) under Grant Agreement 101077576.
**Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
