Abstract:

Romania’s joining the EU has led to the implementation of the EU directive CE 97/923 – on designating shellfish waters appropriate for molluscs growth and exploration. Reducing the quota for turbot in the EU and the diminished catch of sea species have resulted in the urgent need for identifying new aquatic resources by local fishermen. The example set by Turkey or Bulgaria that efficiently exploit the sea gastropods resources has been a challenge for the Romanian fishing sector and, at the same time, an alternative of getting new additional resources by marketing molluscs on external markets. The present paper aims at providing an economic analysis of the opportunity of a sustainable fishery of gastropod species in the Romanian Black Sea coastline. The research conducted in this paper has demonstrated that the available stocks of Mytilus galloprovineialis or Rapana venosa enable an efficient economic exploitation that does not affect the ecological balance or the long-term viability of these sea resources.  In order to achieve a sustainable exploitation, the correlation between the quantity of catch and the natural evolution of the analysed species is highly required as well as the implementation of some environmentally friendly fishing methods. The analysis of Turkish fishery activities, which have a long tradition in this field, has proven to be useful in assessing the economic efficiency of exploiting these aquatic resources, new for the Romanian fishing sector.