Fishing capacity in Southern Italy: An insight into the status and trends of the Campanian fishing fleet

This paper presents a characterization of the fishing fleet operating in Campania, one of the twenty administrative Regions of Italy. An analysis of the contribution of the regional fleet to the national fishing capacity is also provided. The fleet is characterized​ according to its technical features (number of vessels, tonnage, engine power, length over all and fishing technique). The geographical distribution of Campanian vessels is also reported, thus highlighting the areas with the greatest importance for the fishery as well as those characterized by a predominant fishing technique. Also, the paper compares the results for the year 2018 with those of the previous years, thus offering an analysis of the trends followed by the Campanian fishing fleet in terms of the number of vessels, GT and kW. The results show that the regional fleet has lost one third of its size in nearly twenty years. Local fleet trends are set side by side with the evolution of the national, European and Mediterranean fleets. Finally, the study compares the evolution of capacity indicators with landing data of the fishery, showing that the capacity reduction caused by both management and market forces has not generated any tangible benefit to the targeted stocks and associated fisheries landings so far.