The blue economy in the Mediterranean

• 600 ports and terminals.
   
• 150 million: size of the coastal population which doubles during the summer season.
   
• 360 million: tourists arrivals in 2017 with an estimated 50% concentrating in coastal areas.
   
• 2 million: jobs in the blue economy in the European Union's Mediterranean member states.
   
• 79% of the total blue economy jobs are provided by tourism in coastal areas.
   
• 1 million: size of the workforce involved in direct or indirect employment in the fisheries sector.
   
• $12 billion: the estimated combined output of fisheries and aquaculture.
   
• 20%: share of the Mediterranean (less than 1% of the ocean surface) in the world Global Marine Product.
   
• 25% of global maritime traffic and 30% of the world’s oil traffic are concentrated in the Mediterranean.
   
• 13.24%: share of the Suez Canal/SUMED Pipeline and the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits in the world’s seaborne oil trade (2015).
   
• 100,000: number of fishing vessels, of which at least 83% are considered small-scale.
   
• 30,900: fish farms, almost all of which are small to medium-sized enterprises and family-owned farms.
   
• 18%: average portion of the total catch that is discarded.
   
• 112%: the increase in aquaculture production in the EU Mediterranean countries expected in 2030 based on the production level recorded in 2010.
   

Learn more on the blue economy in the Mediterranean:

Towards a sustainable blue economy in the Mediterranean

The UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system is working to ensure that the crucial contribution of the Mediterranean sea and coast to food, water and energy provision must not come at the expense of marine and coastal ecosystems:

• Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) provide a framework for ensuring the sustainable use of marine and coastal resources.
   
• The Mediterranean was the first regional sea to acquire a legal instrument on coastal management: the ICZM Protocol (entered into force in 2011).
   
• The Conceptual Framework on MSP supports the implementation of ICZM in the marine part of coastal zones and specifically for planning and managing maritime human activities in line with the Ecosystem Approach and the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme (IMAP) roadmap.
   
• The Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD) includes an objective on sustainability in the blue economy and has led to the Sustainable Consumption and Production Regional Action Plan.
   
• UNEP/MAP - Plan Bleu Case Studies on the Blue Economy in the Mediterranean, and policy papers, such as “The Blue Economy in the Mediterranean” provide support to decision-makers and practitioners. Several activities related to Blue Economy are included in the UNEP/MAP Programme of Work for 2020-2021.
   
• UNEP/MAP is working on the implementation of the “Roadmap for a Proposal for the Possible Designation of the Mediterranean Sea, as a whole, as an Emission Control Area for Sulphur Oxides Pursuant to MARPOL Annex VI, within the Framework of the Barcelona Convention".

• The Naples Ministerial Declaration adopted at COP21 of the Barcelona Convention in December 2019 included commitments related to the Blue Economy as a priority for action.

• The UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Centre Plan Bleu is part of Interreg Mediterranean Blue Growth community Growth.