The nutrition of the human has made fishing an essential practice and consequently has been the origin of the naval construction. This sector has been able to contribute in each moment f history solutions that have covered the needs of the fishing industry.

In recent years, the fishing sector is facing big challenges due to a demand for greater profitability and performance, in addition to obey the different regulations regarding respect for the environment in all its aspects. To meet these challenges, the sector has reduced direct costs as the number of employees and has also been benefited by the price of fuel.

As for the challenge of being more environmentally friendly, the gases such as CO2 and NOx have become a growing problem in a global perspective. To reduce these emissions, many governments plan to replicate land-based emissions taxes on emissions from ships in their fishing activities.

While steps are being taken in the above mentioned, legislative changes are taking place regarding the specifications of fishing vessels, such as in the European Union, which foresees in the middle of the year 2017 to adopt a new regulation that grants to the Commission European competence to adapt the requirements for determining the continuous power of the engine to the technical developments and possible changes in the international ISO standards.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in its latest biennial published report on the state of world fisheries and aquaculture (SOFIA), estimated that in 2014, there were 4.6 million fishing vessels, with Asia and Africa being the regions with the highest number of registrations, since they account for 90% of the total number of vessels worldwide.

From a technical point of view, according to the same FAO report, 64% of registered vessels are engine-powered, an increase of 7% compared to the previous report for 2012. This report also states that in 2014, approximately 85 per cent of the world’s motorized fishing vessels were less than 12 meters long, and these small vessels dominated in all regions.

In terms of capacity, and if we focus on Europe, the EuroStat Service estimates that in 2015 the European Union had a combined capacity of 1.6 million gross tons and a combined engine power of 6.4 million kilowatts. It is also noted that almost one-fifth (18.2%) of the EU-28 fishing fleet is registered in Greece. In terms of capacity, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom had the largest fishing fleets, accounting for 53.9% of gross tonnage and 55.6% of engine power in 2015.

There are positive data in the sector, such as the profitability of the sector. The European fishing fleet continues to be profitable, with net profits of 770 million euros in 2014, more than 50% above last year’s profits, according to the latest annual report prepared by the European Commission which also foresees record profits in the year 2016.

In the case of Spain, it recorded a net profit margin of 16.5%, the third highest percentage in the EU, only surpassed by Slovenia (35.7%) and the United Kingdom (18.3%). Ireland, Latvia, Estonia and Portugal also had a profit margin of more than 10% in 2014.

The outlook for fish and fisherie products trade by 2025, according to FAO, is also positive. Trade will continue to be high, driven mainly by increased consumption of fishery products, trade liberalization policies, globalization of food systems, technological innovations in shipbuilding, product development conservation, packaging and transport.

All these data suggest that in the medium and long term the fishing fleet will continue to grow or will need to introduce elements of innovation in the existing fleet. Therefore, the naval sector has the opportunity to continue growing and providing added value to this sector with solutions that are more respectful of the environment and that can be applied to the current fleet, as well as the building of new ships according to the new demands of the ship-owners and legislative requirements in all respects.

In this sense, Zamakona Yards has implemented the latest concepts of design and construction, as well as the most advanced technology in engineering and naval architecture in all the constructions, repairs and refit for the fishing vessels.

If you want to read the full report of the FAO, you can download it here