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As a member of the EU, Italy is subject to the EU Council regulations mentioned. Council Regulation (EC) No. 3760/92 of 20 December 1992, as modified by Council Regulation (EC) 2371/2002, establishes a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture which states that “all Community fishing vessels shall be required to have a fishing licence, which is attached to the vessel” (Article 5.1). It further specifies that “the licensing system shall apply to all Community fishing vessels in the Community fishing waters or operating in the waters of third countries or on the high seas” (Article 5.2).
As a result, no Italian fishing vessel is allowed to operate within or outside Italian waters without license to do so. This rule is endorsed nationally by Italian laws No. 963/1965 and No. 41/1982 and now, according to the EU Regulation, it has been confirmed by the Italian Legislative Decrees adopted during the year 2004: n. 153/2004 (Article 4) and n. 154/2004 (Article 12, p. 5).
Access to fishery resources in EU waters by third country vessels may be granted in the framework of a fisheries access agreement concluded between the EU and other States (that are not EU members)[1].

The Legislative Decrees mentioned, n. 153/2004 and n. 154/2004, came into force in June 2004 and represent the new basis for the reform of the Italian fishery system. The Italian fishing vessel license is granted by the Director General for Fisheries and Aquaculture.
Information to be mentioned in the license includes the vessel’s technical features, the owner’s personal details and types of fishing gear that can be carried on board and used from the vessel. Any change in vessel’s ownership, any modification in vessel’s technical features or any variation in the type of fishing gear to be used from the vessel is subject to prior approval from the Directorate General of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
All data on the Italian fishing fleet are reported in national informative archives (“Archivio Licenze di Pesca” - ALP); in the European Community archives exist to monitor fishing capacity and fishing effort.

Prerequisites and conditions for fishing vessels and professional fishermen

Fishing licenses are granted for the use of a particular type of fishing gear. Italian legislation recognizes only 12 separate categories of fishing gears that have been classified in the Ministerial Decree of 26 July 1995 according to international and European standards for sustainable fishery practices.
Fishing gears not listed in Article 11 of the Decree of 26 July 1995 are considered forbidden.
Each professional fishing vessels can only be authorized to use a closed and restricted number of listed gears that are reported on license; no fishing gear or tools other than those mentioned in the license must be carried on board the authorized vessel.
It is not possible to have a fishing license ex novo according to Reg. EC 2371/2002, a license shall be granted for a new vessel only when a fishing vessel, with same structure, is sent for demolition or destination to other uses (e.g. transportation). Article 13 of Reg. CE 2371/2002 establishes the following ‘Entry/Exit scheme and overall capacity reduction’:
Member States shall manage entries into the fleet and exits from the fleet in such a way that, from 1 January 2003:

1. the entry of new capacity into the fleet without public aid is compensated by the previous withdrawal, without public aid, of at least the same amount of capacity,

2. the entry of new capacity into the fleet with public aid granted after 1 January 2003 is compensated by the previous withdrawal without public aid of:

   1. at least the same amount of capacity, for the entry of new vessels equal or less than 100 GT, or

   2. at least 1,35 times that amount of capacity, for the entry of new vessels of more than 100 GT.

Prerequisites for Professional Fishers

No person may engage in professional underwater fishing without an authorization issued by the Italian Coast Guard authority after the evaluation of professional qualification standards.

Duration and fee

Italian fishing licenses are issued for eight years and the relative fee is calculated according to the fishing system authorized, this entails a higher fee for the principal commercial fishing systems that increase fishing effort. The raising of fees is one of the dissuasive mechanisms applied in order to encourage the use of sustainable fishing gears only.

Suspension or revocation

Italian Ministerial Decree of 26 July 1995 (Article 6) establishes that the license ceases to be valid for the following reasons:

1. breaking-up or ceasing of the holder’s activity, if this is a legal entity;

2. voluntary abandonment of the activity of fishing;

3. ceasing of fishing activity (confirmed by the missed application for renewal of the license, within six months of the expiry of its period of validity; when the vessel has been dismantled for at least 3 years or following sinking);

4. not communicating the following events to the Ministry within the time limit of 120 days: transfer of the registration in the commercial fishing register of other maritime district (Capitaneria di Porto) and variation of the elements considered as essential by EC Regulation.

5. not communicating the licence holder's death to the Minister, in the case that the holder is an individual, within the time limit of 180 days.

Presidential decree 1639/68 also fixed the suspension or revocation of the fishing license as an additional sanction against the illegal fishing activity as listed by Law 963/65 and modified by Legislative decree n. 153/04.

No authorization is required to engage in sport or recreational fishing within Italian waters. However, time, area and gear restrictions apply to this type of activities (Presidential decree No.1639/1968). In addition, individuals involved in sporting competitions are required to be members of a national sport fishing federation and to report catch data. The new Legislative Decree n. 153/2004 (Article 1) requires the Italian Government to reform the rules on sport fishery not later than June 2005.

The Scientific Institutes working in marine and fisheries research are listed and fishing operations for scientific reasons need specific authorization by the Director General for Fisheries and Aquaculture.

The EU Council has the general competence for fishery management regulations, that means European Commission and Member States have implementation functions.
EU Council regulations are self-executing in Member States. So EU Council regulations represent the fundamental corpus of rules applied by Italian and Slovenian fishing fleets.
Member States may take measures for the conservation and management of stocks in waters under their sovereignty or jurisdiction provided that:

1. they apply solely to fishing vessels flying the flag of the Member State concerned and registered in the Community or, in the case of fishing activities which are not conducted by a fishing vessel, to persons established in the Member State concerned; and

2. they are compatible with the objectives set out in the Common Fishery Policy and no less stringent than existing Community legislation.

Concerning sustainable fishery development in the Adriatic Sea and in other Mediterranean waters, it is necessary to take note of the following basic regulations:

1. Council Reg. 3690/1993/EEC;

2. Council Reg. 1626/1994/EEC;

3. Council Reg. 2371/2002/EC.

The paragraph concerning access regimes to fishery resources (commercial fishing licenses, recreational fishing and scientific permits) explains above all Council Reg. 3690/1993/EEC and the Article 17 Reg. 2371/2002/EC.

Council Reg. 1626/1994/EEC and other norms of Council Reg. 2371/2002/EC shall be discussed in detail in the following paragraphs.

Council Reg. 3690/1993/EEC (Art. 2 and 3) fix the minimum information to be mentioned in the license: size of vessel in GT, power of engine in KW, length of vessel, EU registration number, name of the license holder, fishing zones and gear that can be carried on board and used from the vessel. Inside or outside European waters, no vessel can be used for commercial fishing purposes without first having been granted a license by a Member State as a ‘flag State’.

Council Reg. 2371/2002/EC repeals Council Reg. 3760/1992/EEC and concerns the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the newly adopted Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) whose objective should therefore be to provide for the sustainable exploitation of living aquatic resources and of aquaculture in the context of sustainable development, taking account of the environmental, economic and social aspects in a balanced manner. The scope of CFP is followed according to the precautionary principle referred to in Article 174 of the European Treaty and bearing in mind the provisions of Article 117 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, without prejudice to the primary responsibility of the flag State.

Article 17 of Reg. 2371/2002/EC establishes the following general rules on access to waters and resources:

1. Community fishing vessels shall have equal access to waters and resources in all Community waters other than those referred to in paragraph 2, subject to the measures adopted under Chapter II.

2. In the waters up to 12 nautical miles from baselines under their sovereignty or jurisdiction, Member States shall be authorised from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2012 to restrict fishing to fishing vessels that traditionally fish in those waters from ports on the adjacent coast, without prejudice to the arrangements for Community fishing vessels flying the flag of other Member States under existing neighbourhood relations between Member States and the arrangements contained in Annex I, fixing for each Member State the geographical zones within the coastal bands of other Member States where fishing activities are pursued and the species concerned.

3. By 31 December 2011 the Commission shall present to the European Parliament and the Council a report on the arrangements set out in this paragraph. The Council shall decide before 31 December 2012 on the provisions which will follow the abovementioned arrangements.

To date the EU Council has not introduced relevant regulations on this matter. There are some guidelines and general advice to control sustainability and to collect data, above all for species managed by international commissions such as ICCAT.

Inclusion of definitions of key concepts and terms in basic fisheries legislation is primarily designed to facilitate the good understanding of the Act and thus avoid any problem of interpretation in implementing the provisions of this Act. In addition, it enables lawmakers to modify (restrict or broaden) the meaning of common words for the specific purpose of the Act and implementing regulations. For instance, the meaning of the word fish is commonly broadened so as to include not only fish, but also crustaceans, molluscs and other types of aquatic organisms.

Key concepts and terms that are examined in this chapter are as follows: national waters, aquatic species, fishing, commercial fishing, artisanal fishing, fishing vessel, national vessel, foreign vessel.

Besides the EU Council definitions mentioned, it is interesting to note that Italian legislation defines the concept of artisanal fishing as fishing activities within 6 miles of the coast using vessels less than 10 GRT and subject to a separate type of social security regime governed by Law n° 250/1958 of 1958.

Council Reg. 2371/2002/EC repeals Council Reg. 3760/1992/EEC and concerns the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the new adopted Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), whose objective should therefore be to provide for sustainable exploitation of living aquatic resources and of aquaculture in the context of sustainable development, taking account of the environmental, economic and social aspects in a balanced manner. The scope of CFP is followed according to the precautionary principle referred to in Article 174 of the European Treaty and bearing in mind the provisions of Article 117 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, without prejudice to the primary responsibility of the flag State.
Article 3 establishes the following definitions:

1. "Community waters" means the waters under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of the Member States with the exception of waters adjacent to the territories mentioned in Annex II to the Treaty;

2. "living aquatic resources" means available and accessible living marine aquatic species, including anadromous and catadromous species during their marine life;

3. "fishing vessel" means any vessel equipped for commercial exploitation of living aquatic resources;

4. "Community fishing vessel" means a fishing vessel flying the flag of a Member State and registered in the Community;

5. "sustainable exploitation" means the exploitation of a stock in such a way that the future exploitation of the stock will not be prejudiced and that it does not have a negative impact on the marine eco-systems;

6. "fishing mortality rate" means the catches of a stock over a given period as a proportion of the average stock available to the fishery in that period;

7. "stock" means a living aquatic resource that occurs in a given management area;

8. "fishing effort" means the product of the capacity and the activity of a fishing vessel; for a group of vessels it is the sum of the fishing effort of all vessels in the group;

9. "precautionary approach to fisheries management" means that the absence of adequate scientific information should not be used as a reason for postponing or failing to take management measures to conserve target species, associated or dependent species and non-target species and their environment;

10. "limit reference points" means values of fish stock population parameters (such as biomass or fishing mortality rate), which should be avoided because they are associated with unknown population dynamics, stock collapse or impaired recruitment;

11. "conservation reference points" means values of fish stock population parameters (such as biomass or fishing mortality rate) used in fisheries management, for example with respect to an acceptable level of biological risk or a desired level of yield;

12. "safe biological limits" means indicators of the state of a stock or of its exploitation inside which there is a low risk of transgressing certain limit reference points;

13. "catch limit" means a quantitative limit on landings of a stock or group of stocks over a given period unless otherwise provided for in Community law;

14. "fishing capacity" means a vessel's tonnage in GT and its power in kW, as defined in Articles 4 and 5 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86(9). For certain types of fishing activity, capacity may be defined by the Council using for example the amount and/or the size of a vessel's fishing gear;

15. "exit from the fleet" means the removal of a fishing vessel from the fishing fleet register of a Member State, provided that Article 15(1) is complied with;

16. "entry into the fleet" means the registration in the fishing fleet register of a Member State of a fishing vessel;

17. "fishing opportunity" means a quantified legal entitlement to fish, expressed in terms of catches and/or fishing effort;

18. "Community fishing opportunity" means the fishing opportunities available to the Community in Community waters, plus the total Community fishing opportunities outside Community waters, less the Community fishing opportunities allocated to third countries.

EU Council regulations are self-executing for all European Member States. That means Council Reg. EC No. 1626/1994 and Reg. EC No. 2371/2002 have direct application in Italy and Slovenia. These two Member States can only introduce more restrictive norms in order to improve marine resource protection and without impacting on other community fishery fleets.

The Italian Government recently reformed the old fishery management system based on Law 41/1982 and Law 963/1965. To achieve this, in 2003, the Italian Parliament delegated the Italian Government to modify and/or repeal exiting fishery laws and, in May 2004, two important legislative decrees were adopted: Legislative Decree No. 153/2004 and Legislative Decree No. 154/2004.
In these two legislative texts, Italy repeals many old dispositions that became ineffective compared to the progressive and detailed EU Council regulations. One of the aims was to remove those dispositions from Italian law that successive EC regulations had made useless or inadequate.
Thus the correct way to approach Italian and Slovenian fisheries regimes is to evaluate each nation’s translation or implementation of the Common Fishery Policy and its regulations.
In 1982, Italy adopted its first three-year fisheries and aquaculture Plan as prepared by the National Committee for the Conservation and Management of Living Marine Resources. This and successive plans cannot be adopted without having first been approved by the Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning, which assesses its economic and financial feasibility. The Sixth three-year fisheries and aquaculture Plan, covering the period from 2000 to 2002, was prolonged to 2004 in order to allow the Italian Government to implement the reforms described above.
The next three-year fisheries and aquaculture Plan shall be the First National Program under Legislative Decree 154/2004. According to self-executing EC regulations this means that responsibility for the implementation of the Common Fishery Policy and the sustainable development of fisheries has been assumed by the nation concerned, in this case Italy.

a) Fishing effort and fishing capacity
In 1989, the Italian Government imposed a freeze on the number of fishing licenses that could be granted for fishing in Italian waters. The freeze is still in effect because Article 13 of EC Reg. No. 2371/2002 establishes the following ‘Entry/Exit scheme and overall capacity reduction’:
Member States shall manage entries into the fleet and exits from the fleet in such a way that, from 1 January 2003:

1. the entry of new capacity into the fleet without public aid is compensated by the previous withdrawal without public aid of at least the same amount of capacity,

2. the entry of new capacity into the fleet with public aid granted after 1 January 2003 is compensated by the previous withdrawal without public aid of:

   1. at least the same amount of capacity, for the entry of new vessels equal or less than 100 GT, or

   2. at least 1,35 times that amount of capacity, for the entry of new vessels of more than 100 GT.

As introduced in paragraph 2.4.4 of this document, Italian Legislative Decree 153/2004 confirms the EC rule that in order to fish commercially it is necessary first to have been granted a licence; furthermore Legislative Decree 154/2004 specifies that the possession of a vessels is not a sufficient criterion to grant the license, the conditions mentioned under Article 13 of Reg. 2371/2002 must be satisfied.

It is necessary to underline that the application of Legislative Decree 153/2004 and Legislative Decree 154/2004 requires the modification of Presidential Decree No. 1639 of 2 October 1968. This Decree was considered the most important ‘old corpus’ of technical rules for the Italian fishery system; before June 2005 the Italian Government should amend the Decree accordingly, thus reforming national legislation. EC Reg 1626/1994 assures that no legislative gap occurs while the Italian law is being amended.

b) Temporary suspension of bottom and mid-water trawl nets
Fishing by means of bottom and mid-water trawl nets has for a long time been subject to annual, temporary suspensions so as to allow fish stocks to recover. In the Adriatic Sea, bottom and mid-water trawlers cannot operate on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and during holidays all year round. In addition, during summer time, bottom and mid water trawl nets suspend fishery for a minimum of 30 days to a maximum of 45 days. This type of suspension is applied under Article 12, par. 6, Reg. EC 2792/1999 as modified by Reg. EC 2369/2002.

c) Drifting gillnet fishing stop
In 1998, the Italian Government adopted the Plan for the rationalization of drifting gillnet fishing, co-financed by the EU and designed to encourage voluntary retraining and rational use of drifting gillnets (Ministerial Decree of 23rd May 1998). To achieve this the Plan offers fishermen the chance either to retrain for other activities within or outside the fishery industry or to withdraw from fishing in exchange for a retirement allowance. The Plan was successful as use of the drifting gillnet by Italian vessels had decreased by an estimated 85% in October 2001.
On 1st January 2003 EC Reg. 1239/1998 fixed the final terms for drifting gillnet fishery, the Italian Government therefore adopted the last obligatory Plan. With this final plan drifting gillnet fishery became totally forbidden to the Italian fleet.

d) Dredges and bivalve molluscs
In order to ensure the sustainable exploitation of bivalve molluscs, the Italian Government froze the number of dredges in each maritime district and, in 1995, decided to transfer the management to ‘Consorzi di gestione’ (management consortia) that operate in accordance with the relevant provisions of Ministerial Decree No. 44/1995 of 1995 and Ministerial Decree No. 515/1998 of 1998.
Management consortia must directly assure that the general Italian rules on bivalve molluscs are respected, as established by Ministerial Decree of 21 July 1998 (external license holders must also respect these rules). Consortia are required to provide the local Coast Guard Authority with catch data no later than the fifth day of each month.
The gathering of vongole, fasolari, cuori, longoni is suspended for a two-month period every year. The start of the closed season is determined by the Local Fisheries Commissions (Article 6). Closed seasons for other species of bivalve molluscs are as follows:
- from 1 April to 30 September for cannolicchi in the Adriatic Sea;
- from 1 April to 30 April for telline;
- from 1 June to 31 July for tartufi.

The gathering of bivalve molluscs is subject to daily bag limits (Article 7):
- 100 kg for vongole veraci;
- 300 kg for cannolicchi;
- 100 kg for tartufi and noci;
- 350 kg for fasolari;
- 100 kg for telline;
- 300 kg for cozze pelose, mussoli and canestrelli.

It is prohibited to gather any species of clam or mussel which is less than 1,5 cm and 2,5 cm in length respectively. Accidental catches of undersized individuals is tolerated when it is less than 10% of the total catch (Article 3.2). Management consortia reduced the impact of these accidental catches establishing their destination to nursery zones.
On the basis of the general measures fixed by the Italian Government and mentioned herein, some management consortia added further, more restrictive measures concerning seasonal conditions.
In order to ensure the sustainable exploitation of bivalve molluscs within fishing areas (compartimentale), management consortia were authorized to devise technical measures, propose increase or decrease the number of fishing permits that could be issued for the gathering of bivalve molluscs and establish fisheries reserves.
In view of the positive results of this experience in the Adriatic Sea, the Italian Government decided to extend this management system to areas of the Tyrrhenian.

e) Protection of juveniles and minimum size
The self-executing rules of Reg. EC 1626/1994 establish the minimum size to protect juveniles as follows (Table 8):

Table 8. Minimum size – annex IV to Reg. EC 1626/1994 [2]

Before the application of Reg. EC 1626/1994, about 900 Italian vessels had the authorization to fish juveniles. In accepting the common limitations, Mediterranean EU Member States asked and obtained a transactional regime from the European Community. During recent years, the Italian Government assured a significant reduction of authorized vessels, limited to one target-species and reduced the fishing period to 60 days.
Given these conditions, currently 420 vessels (less than 10 gross tonnes, GT, and whose engine power does not exceed 100 Hp) continue to fish juveniles of ‘bianchetto’ (juveniles of anchovy). It should be noted that the Italian fleet amounts to about 15.000 vessels. ‘Bianchetto’ fishing determines the associated capture of ‘rossetto’ (Aphia Minuta) that is an adult fish species.
Limited quotas of juveniles of clams and other listed species can only be gathered for aquaculture or stocking purposes. This activity is also strictly regulated with an relevant control system on listed authorized fisherman.
‘Bianchetto’ is the only juvenile species that can be commercialized, however only during the limited 60-day period fixed every year by the Italian Government. Other juveniles cannot be landed and their commerce is punished with suspension of the commercial activity license (market, restaurant etc.) for a minimum of 5 days to a maximum of 10 days. This is established in Article 6 of Legislative Decree 153/2004.

f) Sea urchins
The gathering of sea urchins is governed by a Ministerial Decree of 12 January 1995. No tool other than rakes and asta e specchio can be used for the commercial fishing of sea urchins. Sea urchins can also be gathered manually by professional divers using underwater breathing apparatus and by non-professional divers diving in apnea (Article 1). Daily bag limits are 1,000 individuals for professional fishers and 50 individuals for non-professional fishers (Article 2). It is prohibited to gather sea urchins less than 7 cm in diameter (Article 3). Sea urchin fishing is suspended during the months of May and June every year (Article 4).

g) Bluefin tuna
The ICCAT plenary session decides EU Bluefin tuna annual TAC (total admissible of catches). EU shares its TAC in ‘nationals quotas’ that Member States manage. After the first Ministerial Decree of 27 July 2000 established to fix general allocation criteria, every year the Italian Government examines listed vessels to check that they are respecting the EU regulations adopted to implement ICCAT recommendations. A portion of the Italian ‘quota’ is allotted to those registered vessels that receive a positive appraisal. To maintain their ‘individual quota’, each single listed vessel must:

- hold a specific fishing license authorizing the use of seine nets or longlines just for tuna;
- provide the competent authority with catch data in the format prescribed by the EU in accordance with ICCAT prerequisites;
- respect the annual ‘individual quota’.

The first list of vessels approved for bluefin tuna fishery was published by the Italian Government in 2001 (Ministerial Decree of 23rd April 2001). The effect of this measure is to exclude all Italian vessels other than those mentioned in the list from bluefin tuna fishery.

Council Reg. 812/2000/EC amends the minimum landing sizes of bluefin tuna, set out in the two Regulations concerning the Mediterranean Sea and in regions 1 to 5 of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans in order to prohibit any landing of bluefin tuna below 3.2kg.

Reg. 869/2004 establishes that Member States shall introduce an apposite register for tuna farming.

h) Small pelagics
A Ministerial Decree of 1st April 1998 regulates the capture of small pelagics by means of surrounding nets and pelagic trawl nets in the Adriatic Sea. It provides for the suspension of such types of fishing for a 24-hour period every week and for the suspension of fishing by means of surrounding nets for a period of four consecutive days every month, starting on the day of the full moon.

This is the general rule, but it should be noted that Italian small pelagic fishery in the Adriatic Sea is organized in accordance with Reg. EC No. 104/2000 of 17 December 1999. This means that the fishermen plan their activity according to common rules. The producers’ organizations in the fishing industry control production with attention to responsible fishing practises and to traceability regulations in the market. This type of organization is being co-financed in its initial stages because the European Community considers it an important way to unite the objective of sustainable exploitation with economic goals.

i) Lithophaga lithophaga and Pholas dactilus
Reg. EC No. 1626/1994 prohibits the use of a pneumatic hammer or any similar tools for the harvesting of Lithophaga lithophaga and Pholas dactilus. The Italian Decree of 16th October 1998 introduced a more restrictive normative declaring the harvesting of these two species totally illegal, it also prohibits, the commerce and possession of these species until September 2007.

j) Coral
The use of St Andrew’s crosses and similar towed gear for harvesting coral is prohibited (Article 2.2 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1626/94 of 27 June 1994).

To date the EU Council has not introduced regulations on this matter. There are some guidelines and general advice to control sustainability and to collect data, above all for species managed by international commissions such as ICCAT.
Italian recreational or sports fishery is regulated and it should be noted that sport fisherman can use ‘LENZE’ and no other commercial fishing systems listed in the Ministerial Decree of 26th July 1996. The activities are subject to a 5 kg daily bag limit. The harvest of mussels for recreational purposes is subject to a 3 kg daily bag limit (Ministerial Decree of 10th April 1997).
Underwater professional fishery needs an authorization granted by the local Coast Guard Authority and the activity is subject to some restrictions to ensure security and safety (fisherman must be over 18 but less than 40 years old and must satisfy certain criteria in terms of their physical condition and qualifications).

As a consequence of the legislative reform, Legislative Decree 153/2004 requires the Italian Government to amend Presidential Decree No. 1639 of 2 October 1968 as regards sports, recreational and underwater fishing.

The capture of cetaceans, turtles and sturgeons is prohibited. Italy complies with the IWC (International Whaling Commission), which is the competent body for the conservation of cetaceans.

Italian fishing vessels are divided into four categories corresponding to their area of operation:

- coastal fishing vessels;
- offshore (‘ravvicinata’) fishing vessels;
- Mediterranean fishing vessels;
- High seas fishing vessels.

Coastal fishing vessels are those operating within the 3 to 6 nautical mile water band measured from the coastline. The competent authority may authorize such vessels to operate up to the 12-mile limit, provided that they comply with applicable safety standards. However, they can only operate within the waters of the maritime district in which they are registered as well as in the waters of the two neighbouring maritime districts[7].

Offshore fishing vessels are authorized to operate in an area extending from 3 to 20 nautical miles measured from the coastline. These vessels may be authorized to fish up to the 40-mile limit provided that they comply with safety standards established by Law No. 655/1994 of 1994. They can operate within all the Italian maritime districts.

Mediterranean fishing vessels are authorized to operate throughout Italian territorial waters as well as in the high seas areas of the Mediterranean, unless a bilateral or multilateral agreement to which Italy is a party dictates otherwise.

High seas fishing vessels are authorized to fish throughout Italian territorial waters as well as in areas of high seas both in the Mediterranean and elsewhere.

Under Italian jurisdiction there are 22 Marine Protected Areas. It means that Italian Government has limited human activities (transport, fishery, tourism etc.) in 184.000 hectares of territorial marine waters. In addition, 11 Biological Conservation Zones (‘Zone di tutela biologica’) have been created to experiment models of sustainable self-management.

a) Restrictions on the use of fishing gear
The use of encircling and towed nets from a boat or operated from the shore is prohibited (Article 2.3 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1626/94 of 27 June 1994).

The use of trawls, seines or similar nets is prohibited within three nautical miles of the coast or within the 50 m isobath where that depth is reached at a shorter distance (Article 3.1 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1626/94 of 27th June 1994). However, the use of dredges for catching shellfish may be authorized irrespective of the distance from the coast and depth, provided that the catch of species other than shellfish does not exceed 10% of the total weight of the whole catch (Article 3.2 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1626/94 of 27 June 1994).

Fishing by means of bottom trawls, seines or similar nets above Posidonian beds (Posidonia oceanica) or other marine phanerogams is strictly prohibited (Article 3.3 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1626/94 of 27th June 1994).

It is prohibited to set any type of encircling net within 300 m of the coast or within the 30 m isobath where that depth is reached at a shorter distance (Article 3.4 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1626/94 of 27th June 1994).

b) Gear restrictions[8]
Minimum mesh sizes are:
- 40 mm for towed nets (bottom trawls, surface trawls[9], anchored seines, etc.) and
- 14 mm for encircling nets.

c) Trawls
The use of any device to cover the cod end, on the inside or the outside, is restricted to the devices authorized by Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 3440/84 of 1984.

d) Dredges
The maximum authorized breadth for dredges is 4 m, except in the case of dredges for sponge fishing (gagava).

e) Encircling nets (seines and lampara nets)
The length of netting must not exceed 800 m and the drop is restricted to 120 m, except in the case of tuna seines.

f) Bottom seine nets (gillnets and entangling nets) and trammel nets
The maximum drop of bottom-set nets is restricted to 4 m. It is prohibited to carry on board and set more than 5000 m of bottom-set nets per vessel.

g) Bottom-set longline
It is prohibited carry on board and set more than 7000 m of longline per vessel.

h) Surface-set longline (floating)
It is prohibited to carry on board and set more than 60 km of longline per vessel.

Monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) is an integral and essential component of fisheries management. MCS programs generally encompass the gathering of information on fishing effort characteristics and resource yields, the regulatory conditions under which the exploitation of fishery resources is to be conducted and the types of observations required to ensure compliance with regulatory controls imposed on fishing activities. This paper will primarily focus on MCS measures providing for the registration of fishers and fishing vessels, the marking of fishing vessels, observer programs and information reporting.

In Italy no legal or natural persons are allowed to engage in commercial fishing without the preliminary registration in the Fishing Company Register. Crew members are also registered in the Seamen Register and ships are recorded in apposite Vessels Register. This obligatory recording regime came from the Navigation Code, Presidential Decree No. 328/1952 of 1952, Law No. 963/1965 of 1965, and Presidential Decree No. 1639/1968 of 1968.
In order to register, professional seamen must satisfy the following statutory requirements:

1. they must show that fishing is their sole or principal source of income; and

2. they must demonstrate that they have acquired adequate professional knowledge and skills to conduct commercial fishing operations (training course).

Currently this regime is confirmed by the context of the new Legislative Decree 153/2004. The registers are kept by the local offices of the Ministry of Transport (Comando Generale delle Capitanerie di Porto or Coast Guard Authorities) located along the Italian coastline.

Italy has adhered to the EC provision that governs the implementation of a satellite based monitoring systems (‘Blue boxes’) on vessels over 24 meters. Plans are being put in place to implement the monitoring system for vessels under 24 meters and over 18 meters.
Italian Government set up the necessary administrative and technical infrastructure creating, in accordance with Coast Guards Headquarters, two military squads: 1) The National Fishery Control Centre (Centro Controllo Nazionale Pesca - CCNP); and 2) The National Unit of Fishery Inspectors.
The latter is responsible for fishery operations in the high seas according to international conventions on Flag State responsibility (UN Convention on the Law of the Seas, 1982 and UN Fish Stocks Agreement, 1995).

a) Fishing fleet registers
Reg. EC 2371/2002 establishes that each Member State shall keep a register of the Community fishing vessels flying its flag which shall include the minimum information on vessel characteristics and activity that is necessary for the management of measures established at Community level.
The same Reg. EC 2371/2002 dictates that the European Commission shall set up a Community fishing fleet register containing the information that it receives from each Member State and shall make it available to other Member States.
It is opportune to note that the provisions for fleet registers are not a new introduction but originate from previous EC regulations.

b) Monitoring and data collection
Where monitoring, control and surveillance are concerned, Reg. EC 2371/2002 requires that:

• a fishing vessel shall have installed on board fully-working system which allows the detection and identification of the vessel by remote monitoring systems. This requirement applies to vessels exceeding 18 metres overall length as from 1 January 2004 and to vessels exceeding 15 metres overall length as from 1 January 2005;

• the master shall without undue delay record and report information on fishing activities, including landings and transhipments. Copies of the records shall be made available to the authorities. (The Council shall decide on the obligation to transmit such records electronically. In order to assess the technology to be used, Member States, in cooperation with the Commission, shall carry out pilot projects);

• the master shall accept inspectors on board and cooperate with them; and where an observer scheme applies, the master shall also accept observers on board and cooperate with them;

• the master shall respect conditions and restrictions relating to landings, transhipments, joint fishing operations, fishing gear, nets and the marking and identification of vessels.

EC Reg. 2371/2002 also establishes that the marketing of fisheries products shall be subject to the following requirements:

• fisheries products shall only be sold from a fishing vessel to registered buyers or at registered auctions;

• the buyer of fisheries products from a fishing vessel at first sale shall be registered with the authorities;

• the buyer of fisheries products at first sale shall submit invoices or sales notes to the authorities, unless the sale takes place at a registered auction which is itself obliged to submit invoices or sales notes to the authorities;

• all fisheries products landed in or imported into the Community for which neither invoices nor sales notes have been submitted to the authorities and which are transported to a place other than that of landing or import shall be accompanied by a document drawn up by the transporter until the first sale has taken place;

• the persons responsible for premises or transport vehicles shall accept inspectors and cooperate with them;

• where a minimum size has been fixed for a given species, operators responsible for selling, stocking or transporting must be able to prove the geographical origin of the products.

Only a buyer acquiring products that are not thereafter placed on the market but used exclusively for private consumption shall be exempt from the requirements described.

Therefore the responsibilities of Member States is to ensure effective control, inspection and enforcement of the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy in their territory or in the waters subject to their sovereignty or jurisdiction. To achieve this Member States should set up the necessary administrative and technical infrastructure.

Member States are also required to adopt the measures, allocate the financial and human resources and set up the administrative and technical infrastructure necessary to ensure effective control, inspection and enforcement of the Regulations, including satellite based monitoring systems.

It is important to note that in April 2004, the European Commission presented the proposal to create a Community Agency for Fishery Control to Member States. The idea consists in the organization of the Member States’ resources and structure as well as guaranteeing the effectiveness of a common surveillance system.

[1] It does not apply to member countries' territorial waters.

[2] A partial repeal of this regulation is detailed in article 3 of EC Reg. n. 49/1999.

[3] This entry was initially substituted by article 1 of EC Reg. n° 782/98, following which it was substituted by article 1 of EC Reg. n° 812/2000 and finally repealed by article 20 of EC Reg. N° 973/2001, which should be referred to for further clarification.

[4] This entry is repealed in part by article 20 of EC Reg. n° 973/2001, which should be referred to for further clarification.

[5] This note is substituted by article 1 of EC Reg. n° 812/2000.

[6] This note is renumbered in article 1 of EC Reg. n° 782/98.

[7] Italian territorial waters are divided into 48 maritime districts for administrative purposes.

[8]  Annex II and III of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1626/94 of 27 June 1994.

[9] For surface trawling of sardine and anchovy, the minimum mesh size is reduced to 20 mm where these species account for at least 70% of the catch after sorting.