TIRANA, Sept 12 /ATA/- Excise exemption on the fuel used by fishing boats and formalization of this sector has led to double-digit increase in the quantity of catch and the number of employees.
Last year the catch of fish from all categories of water increased to 14,875 tons as compared to 12,719 tons in 2017, marking an annual growth of 17.0%.
The Institute of Statistics announced Thursday that the catch structure by water category for 2018 defines “Marine” fishing as the highest production category for the sector, with 37.2% of total production, followed by “Aquaculture” with 34.5%, as well as inland waters by 16.3% of the total.
2018 recorded the largest annual growth in category “Molluscs” with about 157.7%, compared to a year earlier. In the meantime, the catch from category “Aquaculture” increased 28.5%, “Inland waters” by 20.9% and “Sea fishing” by 20.2%. The aquatic category “coastal fishing” decreased by 70.6%, compared to a year earlier, followed by the category “lagoon fishing” by 41.7%
According to INSTAT, the species that resulted in the highest catch percentage were “Anchovy” with 24.4% of the total, followed by “Shrimp” with 20.6% and “Hake” with 14.1%. In terms of catches in the inland waters, the species “Carp” has the highest percentage of total catch with about 23.6%.
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