Human Development Report - Croatia 2008 The Fishing and Mariculture Industries^1539.3. Indirect economic impacts of
the fishing sector – tourism and
the seafood industry
While no study has yet been conducted describing
the impact of seafood on the tourism sector in Croa-
tia, it does play a role. Some areas, such as Mali Ston
Bay, have become tourist destinations, specifically
because of their locally-produced oysters and mus-
sels. The producers of farmed shellfish, sea bass and
sea bream as well as most of the lucrative rocky-coast
fish species, are directly tied to the tourist industry. Ex-
pensive seafood is mostly limited to restaurants, while
hotels tend to offer cheaper imported products, such
as fish fillets, frozen mussels, etc. Other fish – namely
small pelagic fish such as anchovies and sardines – are
only occasionally offered at Croatian tourist destina-
tions, unlike countries such as Italy and Portugal. Most
farm-raised tuna is exported to Japan.
Croatian seafood is internationally renowned and rep-
resents one of the main features of traditional tourism.
However, this reputation is mostly based on expensive
seafood. The sale and availability of less expensive
seafood in restaurants, such as pelagic fish is insignifi-
cant. Therefore the sale of less expensive seafood rep-
resents significant potential for future development.
9.4. Trends in production
Croatia is a multi-species fishery. In terms of biologi-
cal resources supporting the fisheries sector, there are
about 434 fish species in the Adriatic Sea, out of which
100 species are commercially exploited.^7 In 2007,
the catch of marine fish and other marine organisms
amounted to more than 38,000 tonnes.
The fishing industry as a whole has not yet been mod-
ernised due to several factors that include the war
and the subsequent unstable political and macroeco-
nomic situation. The unrealised potential for develop-
ment is particularly noticeable in the white fish (sea
bass and sea bream) and shellfish (oyster and mussel)
sectors, where development strategies and potential
have remained largely on paper.
On the other hand, tuna farming reached 4,000 tonnes
in only 10 years due to strong demand from the Japa-
nese market.^10 The capture of fish for culture is based
on quotas proposed by ICCAT (The International
Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas).
During the last five years the Croatia quota has been
around 900 tonnes of tuna and has been decreasing.
As tuna is considered to be over-fished, restrictions on
fishery activity are ongoing, which will probably result
in lower quotas in future years.VII The technology for
tuna juvenile production is still not commercial, and in
the ‘best case’ scenario, production is likely to remain
at the level of 4,000 tonnes for the longer-term. The
Government’s strategic goal is to reach 10,000 tonnes
of white fish and 20,000 tonnes of shellfish per year.
But due to many obstacles – the most prominent be-
ing competition for space with other end users (tour-
ism, marinas, buildings, traffic) – the prospects are not
very bright for reaching this goal.
The recent developments in tuna farming, currently
the leading Croatian agricultural export, and the in-
creased demand for fresh pelagic fish as food for theVII See http://www.iccat.int/ for more information on international
tuna conservation.Figure 9-2: Fish market.Source: Ivan Bura