Fabio Massa

In some food production systems, sustainability and acceptability are considered umbrella concepts that can be assessed through a combination of criteria and indicators. After a remarkable and somewhat chaotic development in the early ‘90s, European aquaculture has been evolving in both scientific and policy domains to improve, and to prove, its su...

The Mediterranean is a miniature of the world with 22 countries sharing the its coastline. In the past few decades aquaculture production in Mediterranean showed an increasing trend but brought with it several environmental and socio-economic issues. In order to establish sustainable development, the Mediterranean aquaculture sector has adopted int...

Responsible aquaculture, the farming of aquatic organisms, is a sustainable strategic sector for land and coastal communities. It significantly contributes to food security and enhancement of economic development; it provides employment opportunities and often contributes to the ecological services provided by the environment. According to the Food...

"Despite the continuous population growth and the need for high-quality food, the social acceptance or non-acceptance of aquaculture by the inhabitants of a particular region affects the development of the sector by modulating consumption and, implicitly, profitability of this activity. In the Mediterranean and Black Sea areas, there was a rapid ex...

Marine aquaculture is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, with a long-term growing trend and wide opportunities for the development and dissemination of production. It is clear that seafood production is the future of the marine fisheries sector, especially in terms of preserving existing fish resources, repopulation and conservatio...

Recently, there is increased interest in the sustainability of aquaculture in the Mediterranean due to the rapid expansion of the sector in the past decades. The use of clear indicators linked to higher level criteria that characterize the associated principles of sustainable development, is considered one of the most appropriate ways to monitor an...

Recently, there is increased interest in the sustainability of aquaculture in the Mediterranean due to the rapid expansion of the sector in the past decades. The use of clear indicators linked to higher level criteria that characterize the associated principles of sustainable development, is considered one of the most appropriate ways to monitor an...

Aquaculture provides more than half of the fish used for human consumption, contributing to food security and nutrition, economic growth and improved livelihoods. Aquaculture production in countries bordering the Mediterranean and Black Sea has grown steadily, though not homogenously, mainly based on marine species. To boost development, there is a...

To meet the Convention on Biological Diversity's Aichi Target 11 on marine biodiversity protection and Aichi Target 6 on sustainable fisheries by 2020, as well as the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 on food security and SDG 14 on oceans by 2030, there is an urgent need to rethink how best to reconcile nature conservation and sustainable develo...

The Regional Conference “Blue Growth in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea: developing sustainable aquaculture for food security” was held in Bari, Italy, from 9 to 11 December 2014. It was organized by the GFCM in collaboration with the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the MiPAAF and the European Commission and in partners...

The trans-disciplinary thematic areas of oceans management and policy require stocktaking of the state of knowledge on ecosystem services being derived from coastal and marine areas. Recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) especially Goals 14 and 15 explicitly focus on this. This Handbook brings together a carefully chosen set of worl...

Aquaculture is an increasingly important food-producing sector, providing protein for human consumption. However, marine aquaculture often struggles for space due to the crowded nature of human activities in many marine coastal areas, and because of limited attention from spatial planning managers. Here, we assess the need for coastal spatial plann...

Human-induced climate change and ocean acidification are global environmental phenomena with a common driver: anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide. Both processes potentially threaten the Mediterranean bivalve mollusc aquaculture sector, which is economically relevant to several regions and countries. Detrimental effects on bivalve mollusc spe...

The Mediterranean region hosts around 400 coastal lagoons, covering a surface of over 641000hadiffering in both their typology and use. Fisheries and various forms of aquaculture have been traditionally carried out in Mediterranean coastal lagoons since ancient times and are part of the cultural heritage of the region. Traditional lagoon management...

Mediterranean and Black Sea aquaculture plays an important social and economic role in the GFCM region. The sustainability of the sector is increasingly challenged by old and emerging issues which require innovative measures to address the economic, social, environmental and governance aspects involved. An appropriate way of measuring and monitorin...

The state of demersal fishery in the Southern Adriatic Sea (GFCM-GSA 18, Central Mediterranean), years 1996–2003, from a biological, social and economic point of view was analysed using 47 indicators: 22 biological indicators obtained from fishery-independent data through yearly experimental bottom trawl surveys (“Medits” Programme), and 25 socio-e...

Quantitative analysis of 67 calcareous nannofossil assemblages from surface sediments recovered in a wide area across the Sicily Channel has been carried out in order to improve the interpretation of palaeontological data based on this planktonic group in a key area for Mediterranean palaeoceanographic studies. The investigation focused on three ca...

SUMMARY - During the last decade, regional cooperation for fisheries research and management gained a significant momentum in the Mediterranean scenario. The FAO Mediterranean projects played a major role to foster regional cooperation and the establishment of scientific networks. The paper outlines cooperation initiatives supported by the FAO and...

For the first time it was possible to investigate a still poorly known region of the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the Libyan continental margin. An oceanographic cruise, performed during summer 2006, revealed an important and novel feature: a dense vein flowing along the continental slope. The paper describes the vein evolution with some insights on...

The thick lipped mullet, Chelon labrosus, was induced to spawn by the injection of human gonadotropin hormone. Eggs were fertilized naturally and larvae were reared at different conditions, in hatchery tanks and outdoor earthen ponds, in order to compare their growth and try to reduce production costs. Food consisted of rotifers and brine shrimp na...

The FAO–MedSudMed Regional Project has promoted research on the improvement of knowledge on fishery ecosystems, with a view to the sustainable management of living marine resources in the central Mediterranean (Straits of Sicily). A pilot study focused on the waters around the Maltese Islands (GSA 15), with the aim of providing a comprehensive over...

A large number of juvenile, sub-adult and adult individuals of Sparus aurata were collected in two adjacent Mediterranean coastal lagoons, Lake Fogliano and Lake Caprolace, located on the central Tyrrhenian coast of Italy. A comprehensive analysis of the feeding habits of this species was carried out using both univariate and multivariate statistic...

Both interspecific and intraspecific inter-lagoon differences, between the central Mediterranean coastal lakes of Fogliano and Caprolace, in the trophic patterns of the examined species Diplodus annularis, Diplodus puntazza, Diplodus sargus, Lithognathus mormyrus and Sparus aurata were revealed by means of correspondence analysis. The most evident...

The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) no minal landing statistics from marine capture fisheries were used to outline production trends in the Adriatic Sea region during the last quarter century. The performance of demersal and pelagic fishery showed different patterns. The combination of environmental and socio-economic fact...

Survival of 23% (length 31.2 mm) was achieved for fry of Chelon labrosus reared in earthen ponds from Day 20 to Day 58, compared with 31.2% (24.6 mm) for the indoor controls. Pond conditions were: temperature range 20.6–27.5° C, dissolved oxygen range 6.2–8.0 ppm, and water exchange rate 1 l/s. Natural food organisms available in the pond were supp...

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