Socio-economic description of professional fishery in Vistonis Lagoon, North Greece

Vistonis is a complex of small lagoons and a freshwater coastal lake located in North Greece coastal zone. Runoffs from the surrounding agriculture irrigation system are directed to the lake and the coastal area through 3 rivers. The most significant fishery products of the area are the hale, shrimps, anchovy, sardine, grey mullets, octopus and freshwater and brackish water species like thickleap grey mullet and eels. Approximately 50 professional fishermen are operating in the area and the fleet is composed of 40 small vessels with average length overall 9.41±1.63 m, 87.4±6.8 HP and 5.20±2.09 gt. Their average age is 13.89±8.5 years. On average each vessel operates a minimum of 6 fishing gears at the same time. The owners of the vessels can be 1 or 2 persons, usually having a family relation. In addition, there are also 1-4 workers on board (on average 2) 29% of which are Albanians. The average fishing trip lasts 8.6±1.7 hours on a daily basis. Each vessel operates for 280±38 days during the year. The annual production of each vessel is 4.3±3.3 tonnes. The annual income vary from 2500 to 30000 € per vessel. The average fishing cost is around 23656 € per vessel annually.