5. Shipyards 



Greek shipyards are able to produce small 

 wooden, coastal vessels and have done so for many 

 years. In 1988, it was reported that a Greek shipyard 

 in Piraeus was building a 60-meter long factory-ship 

 for operations off the Falkland Islands." Another 

 vessel, the Miastralli II, was also built in a Greek 

 shipyard; the vessel was designed to fish off Senegal 

 and Nigeria. The vessel was lengthened in 1989, and 

 sent to fish for squid off the Falkland Islands.'" 

 Another vessel, the 28-meter Laconia was launched 

 in 1990 as pan of the process to modernize the Greek 

 coastal fleet.'' 



6. International Agreements 



Greek fishermen pioneered the development of 

 fisheries off Africa by sending freezer vessels down 

 to the Saharan Bank off Mauritania as early as 

 1952.'* Other vessels found their way into the Indian 

 Ocean where they began fishing for shrimp. By the 

 end of the 1970's, Greek fishermen began facing 

 tough competition from Spanish, Japanese, and Soviet 

 fishing fleets." The situation grew more difficult in 

 the mid-1970s when many nations extended their 

 fishery zones to 200-miles. This displaced many 

 foreign vessels that had been fishing off the coast of 

 Africa. In 1979, the Greeks decided they could not 

 renew their costly agreement with Mauritania and 

 shifted their shrimping operations south to Guinea, 

 Sierra Leone, and Nigeria." When Libya extended 

 control over its waters out to 50 miles, Greek 

 fishermen established a joint venture company with 

 1 1 vessels to operate within those waters. " Landings 

 from the joint venture operations with Libya were 

 estimated at 500 tons annually.-" The joint venture 

 was eventually terminated. 



Greece joined the European Community on 

 January 1, 1981. Greek fishing vessels now operate 

 in accordance with EC bilateral agreements. Greek 

 fishing owners operated 90 vessels in overseas waters 

 in 1991, including: Senegal, Guinea (Conakry), 

 Guinea (Bissau), The Gambia, and the Ivory Coast. 

 One Greek vessel was caught fishing for shrimp in 

 Nigeria's EEZ in 1991. The vessel's captain was 

 fined $20,000 after being found guilty of catching 

 and packaging shrimp in Nigerian waters without a 

 license and labeling packages "Product of Greece."-' 

 Provisions were made for 3 Greek high-seas vessels 



to fish in Morocco's waters between 1992-94 as part 

 of the new EC-Morocco fisheries agreement signed 

 on May 15, 1992." Greece has no other bilateral 

 fisheries agreements. The Greek fisheries off Africa 

 (FAO area 34) yielded about 16,000 tons of fish out 

 of a total of 149,000 tons landed in 1991 according 

 to FAO estimates. 



7. Fleet Dispersal Plans 



The addition of 4 new vessels over 1 ,000-GRT 

 in the last few years suggests that Greece has a 

 capability to fish on the high seas. It is likely that 

 Greece will continue to fish off West Africa or may 

 take advantage of the new EC agreement with 

 Argentina to shift several vessels into those waters. 

 A Greek firm, Lina Transoceanic Fishing and 

 Shipping Company, has announced plans to fish in 

 Iranian waters in 1993 or 1994. The firm will 

 operate a Greek stem trawler, the Chrissoula, under 

 contract to Iran. The vessel is currently being 

 modernized at a Piraeus shipyard." A recent story 

 from Somalia reports that "pirate trawlers" from 

 Greece and other countries are illegally fishing for 

 lobster, crab, and tuna in Somali waters at night. No 

 documentation exists for this claim made by 

 Mohamed Abshir Muse of the Somali Salvation 

 Democratic Front.''' 



SOURCES 



Eurofish Report, various issues. 



European Supplies Bulletin, Aimual Data 1992, Sea 

 Fish Industry Authority, Edinburgh, 1993 



"Financial Support to the Fishing Industry," 

 Organization for Economic Co-Operation and 

 Development, Paris, 1985 



Fishing News International, various reports. 



Greek Agriculture, Data and Facts, 1982, Ministry of 

 Agriculture, Athens, 1985. 



Kotsolios, M. "The present situation and current 

 trends in Development of fishing activities in 

 Greece," Technical Consultation on Stock 

 Assessment in the Eastern Mediterranean, 



93 



