Nowadays marine and maritime sectors are experiencing difficulties in finding their own way of sustainability and development. Blue Economy represents roughly 5.4M jobs in the EU and generates a gross added value of almost €500B a year. Looking to 2030, the blue growth will outperform the EU economy both in terms of added-value and employment. The EU has made clear that it should not miss this opportunity, also integrating fishery and aquaculture activities with other elements of the coastal economy. As underlined by the 2016 Annual Economic Report on the EU Fishing Fleet, by others, sustainable fishing methods are experiencing a strong decline in job rates (only for the regions involved in this project: -21% less in the last 7 years) as well as income. Innovative solutions to recover these jobs, to create new ones and to develop new skills and qualifications are needed. FIT4BLUE project addresses the needs of different target groups: a) the needs of adult trainers/mentors and costal economy organisations for further professionalization and effective training programs able to enhance in the young people/project holders/ fishermen an entrepreneurial spirit and to develop new entrepreneurial initiative in the maritime sectors b) the needs of young adults/workers linked to the coastal economy ( fishermen/shellfish farmers, sons or relatives of fishermen/shellfish farmers, students,..) for effective training programs to develop their entrepreneurial skills, notably in the maritime sectors (fisheries and aquaculture); the needs of young adults belonging to marginalized/underrepresented groups for a better social and economic inclusion thanks to entrepreneurship and self-employment in the maritime sector c)The need of the other stakeholders in the VET and maritime fields to improve professionalization of workers and move to a qualitative exploitation through complementary activities with a strong added value The consortium composed by 6 institutions from France, Italy, Greece and Spain and having in common their strong links with the maritime sector and their experience in education and training put together their competences to develop : a) E-course for trainers/mentors to support young adults developing new enterprises in the maritime sector, as well as to support fishermen for diversification and to preserve coastal cultural heritage and “know-how"; b) E-course for low-skilled/low-qualified young adults/workers proposing new and innovative educational paths of entrepreneurship in the Blue Economy c) Open access web platform through which users can benefit from learning in an autonomous way. It will host the e-courses and will present a benchmark of new processes and marketing techniques to exploit new opportunities in the field of Blue Economy. The aim is to foster the possibilities of young adults/workers linked with coastal economy into a now saturated world such as fisheries, which is now under severe crisis, and that, in order to survive, it is increasingly focusing on diversification of activities. It will boost new options of tourism against the overcrowded maritime areas which is a new challenge for tourism and will be able to empower some historical fishing areas.
In accordance with the intellectual productions of the project and the activities to be carried out, the objective was, for Corsica which is a pilot territory in France in terms of pescatourism, to: Strengthen the skills of local actors in coastal towns to be able to support, stimulate the development of diversification activities with the professional actors included in the cross-functionality of this activity: tourism professionals, local elected officials, maritime affairs, managers of professional fishing organizations, professional fishermen, etc. Strengthening the capacities of fishing professionals , but also of any person, adult, wishing to embark on activities of valorization and promotion of the activities of professional fishing, to be able to have sufficient knowledge to implement their project. The training of mentors and professionals is an essential element that can guarantee the development of these activities in fishing ports. For the conduct of the project, Petra Patrimonia has chosen as the territory of intervention: the municipality of Propriano, a professional of which is the president of the Mediterranean association of pescatourism, Bonifacio, whose prud'homie of fishing is very active in terms of management of fishing goods and Bastia the mother city of Petra Patrimonia. Mare wanted to engage stakeholders and policy makers in the debate on legislation and educate both fisheries and aquaculture sector training professionals. They also wanted to directly involve and train fishermen and aquaculturists so that they could develop sustainable activities such as fishing tourism. SGS, for its part, had a particular sensitivity for the dimensions of safety, health, quality of work and the implementation of ITC in the maritime sector. In addition to the diversification of fishing activities, SGS wished to highlight through this project the improvement of the working conditions of maritime personnel and respect for the marine environment. Haliéus wanted to make up for the lack of a structured capacity building program for fishermen and for mentors of fishermen who wish to develop pesca-tourism. For the Italian partner, it was also a question of having common basic rules and a more refined knowledge of European regulations in this area. Italian fishing cooperatives have repeatedly expressed the need to strengthen themselves at this level. In the same spirit, Fundamar wished to participate in this project to contribute to the development of a European training program to compare the evolution of pescatourism in the different countries of the partnership and create synergies both at national and European level.
The professional fishing sector is experiencing difficulties in the face of the overexploitation of the halieutic resource (Annual report of the FOA 2021) and the aging of its population. In Corsica, for example, the average age is over 50 for an average retirement age of 55. The profession is not attractive to young people and it struggles to ensure its renewal. Nevertheless, in recent years the regulatory recognition in France of the principles of boarding foreign passengers to crew members on board vessels armed for fishing, has made it possible to develop pesca-tourism. However, no EU-wide regulations exist and the provisions of the Member States are very different from one country to another. The EU underlined in 2016, through the sense of initiative and entrepreneurship (SIE) the need to strengthen the skills of future entrepreneurs of the blue economy. In the territories of the EU, the principles of pescatourism and the potentialities in terms of activities are not well perceived by professionals and locals (adults, young people). The result is a lack of effectiveness in terms of development due to a lack of knowledge and ability to do, know how to be and know how to act. Through its consortium (PPC, Halieus, Mare, Fundamar, SGS, Idec), the Fit4Blue project has given visibility to the fishing profession, to the challenges it faces as well as to the development opportunities linked to pesca-tourism. It is with this objective that Petra Patrimonia Corsica (PPC) wanted to get involved in the FIT4BLUE project, to strengthen the capacities of actors and work on the territorial development of fishing diversification practices. As an Italian research cooperative linked to the world of fishing and aquaculture, Mare has detected in recent years in this sector the need for diversification of activities through tourism, both to increase income from fishing and aquaculture and to reduce the impact on already depleted fish stocks. They met with real interest from stakeholders and a desire to improve regulation from regional and national institutions. As a structure for the international cooperation projects of the association of Italian cooperatives Legacoop, including fishing cooperatives - Halieus got involved in response to the need expressed by several Italian fishing cooperatives to strengthen the professionalism of fishermen in the diversification of fishing activities. Fundamar, the Spanish partner, has been working for many years on projects related to the dissemination of the blue economy and knowledge of fishing heritage. In 2016, the foundation launched the Vigo Pesqueiro program which receives around 3,000 visits per year, in which participants discover fishing activities and all the issues relating to the area. SGS, as a renowned training company with a long experience in vocational and adult training, applied to this project to provide its expertise in the maritime sector since it has developed several projects at national and European level with partners such as the shipowners' cooperative of Vigo (ARVI - Spain), the Maritime Prevention Institute (France), the Association of National Organizations of Fishing Companies in the European Union (EUROPECHE - Brussels), the Research Center for Technological Innovation in Fisheries and Aquaculture (MARE – Italy), and the Association of Aquaculture Companies (APROMAR).