PESCATOURISM-A EUROPEAN REVIEW AND PERSPECTIVE

Pescatourism is a relatively new concept of merging tourism with fisheries. Its intention is to supplement incomes of fishermen and their families in the situation of declining living resources of the sea and to provide an attractive activity for tourists visiting the sea coast. Pescatourism should be considered different activity from fisheries tourism, or recreational fishing (including charter fishing), which usually denote angling. It also contributes to the education of the society and public awareness about the state and problems of the marine sector, including ecosystems, and experiencing the traditional fishing culture. This new activity first stared in Italy in 1982 and soon spread to other Mediterranean countries. Pescatourism can be considered a branch of sustainable tourism and an activity parallel to agrotourism. This essay provides an overview of pescatourism (and related activities) in European countries (Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Germany) with additional examples from elsewhere. Chances for implementing pescatourism in other countries are analysed (Turkey, Algeria, Poland). Despite all these positive features, it can easily be a commercial activity which does not provide any benefits to fishers and sustainability of marine living resources if the licence right is given to charter operators rather than to fishers.