Fincantieri with Federpesca to revive the National Fishing Economy

Trieste, November 25, 2020 – Fincantieri and Federpesca (the Italian National Association of Fishing Enterprises) signed a Memorandum of Understanding today to promote the renewal of the Italian fishing fleet.

Fincantieri will be the project leader within the aforementioned partnership, which will also be  open to other selected businesses of the industry. The Group will identify some standards of the fishing vessels specifically intended for the Italian fishing industry, leveraging on the expertise gained by its subsidiary Vard through the construction of special vessels for the advanced aquaculture cluster in Norway. The vessels will be equipped with cutting-edge solutions, notably in terms of decarbonization and digitalization. Moreover, thanks to the Group’s ability to integrate each contribution of its several expertise centers, the project will enhance the technological systems and components developed by Fincantieri and its subsidiaries.

Federpesca will promote and support the project by representing the fishing enterprises in front of all the relevant national and international institutions providing a comprehensive overview of the fishery market. The Association will also be involved in setting out the technical specifications required by the sector by coordinating the suggestions and requests coming from the industry, as well as being in charge of scouting new potential markets in the Mediterranean area.

There is a need to re-launch the sector, having the Italian fishing fleet dwindled significantly over the past decades. It currently consists of roughly 12,000 motor trawlers, accounting for 17% of the EU fleet and employing 25,000 people. Furthermore, the Italian fishing fleet results to be the most outdated and lagging behind, in terms of competitiveness (average fishing vessel age is 31 years), among the other EU countries, with a growing trend of per-capita consumption of fish products in the EU market, and especially in the Italian one. A thorough upgrade of the fishing fleet is therefore essential to bridge the gaps that prevent to meet domestic demand (Italy is self-sufficient by 15% at most), and in turn affect the environment, the quality and cost of production, onboard working and safety conditions, and the competitiveness and sustainability of the entire system.  

The President of Federpesca, Luigi Giannini, commented: “A national strategy for the coming decades is needed to encourage the upgrade of the Italian fishing fleet, making the fishing sector more attractive to young people. This renewal program will be aimed to technological innovation, environmental impact, energy saving, safety at work and navigation. A roadmap to recovery sustainability and competitiveness  to the sector, to the marine environment and to the fish products. Collaboration with Fincantieri is undoubtedly a guarantee of quality and professionalism and competence  and we are very proud to carry out such project together, in the wake of the Blue Growth strategy. A key restart dimension for the whole country”.

Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono commented: “This agreement is the best demonstration of Fincantieri’s great capability – unparalleled worldwide – to transfer technology from one type of vessel to another, altering the newest construction solutions to suit – in this case – the size of the coastal and Mediterranean fishing”. Mr. Bono also added, “In the challenging task of developing the economy of the sea, renewing the fleet and reviving the fishing industry are goals of national importance that are also primarily shared and backed by Confindustria. We are proud to be at the helm of this project, thus confirming that our Group is engaged nationwide at every socio-economic level”.