Introduction and background
The growing demand for seafood and the pressing need to reduce the ecological impact of blue sectors have elevated the sustainability of fishing and aquaculture industries to the forefront of European and international policymaking agendas in the last decades (FAO, 2024). This shift reflects a broader commitment to balancing economic growth with environmental sustainability, driving comprehensive policy initiatives across the blue economy.
In line with the U nited Nations 2030 Agenda, European institutions have aimed to ensure the blue sectors’ sustainable development by promoting innovative practices and improving the management of aquatic resources, a transformative process known as the “blue transition”. In this context, the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) aims to promote innovative projects and more effective governance strategies, backed by a financial allocation of €6.108 billion for the 2021-2027 period to support four key priorities: (i) sustainability of the fisheries sector, (ii) sustainability of aquaculture, (iii) development of maritime communities, and (iv) ocean surveillance.
The effectiveness of this instrument largely depends on its ability to address the actual needs of the sector’s stakeholders (Vecchio et al., 2024 ) and bridge existing gaps between people and policy (Krause et al., 2015; Brugere et al., 2021).
In line with the abovementioned information, this study aims to analyze the blue sector stakeholders’ perspectives on EMFAF 21-27’s priorities in Italy to assess their views and alignment with current policies.
Methodology
As an effective way to detect the viewpoints, the Q-methodology approach was applied, a quali-quantitative analysis aimed to identify the different perspectives within a group of participants, also known as discourses (Brown, 1980).
Following the steps of methodology ( see McKeown and Thomas, 2013), 36 statements (Concourse) related to each priority of Italy’ s National EMFAF Plan (European Commission, 2021) have been designed. Afterwards, 18 respondents (P-sample) are called to rank the statements based on a predefined scale ranging from -5 to +5 (Q-set) based on their level of agreement or disagreement, arranging them within a normally distributed grid (Q-sorting) (Watts and Stenner, 2012).
The chosen participants are stakeholders who cover different roles in the supply chain - producers, cooperatives, public institutions, trade associations , academics, and consultants - to capture the different views on the relevance of different strategies proposed within EMFAF priorities. Lastly, a principal component analysis was performed to identify shared opinion patterns.
Results
The Q-methodology analysis reveals five distinct perspectives, each emphasizing different opinions towards their alignment with current policies.
The first discourse, “Cooperation and control”, emphasizes the importance of regulation and marine area monitoring.
The second discourse, “Innovation, e ntrepreneurship, and a c ircular a pproach to aquaculture” , demonstrates a strong interest in adopting innovative technologies and fostering new entrepreneurial opportunities in blue-farmed sectors.
The third discourse, or “Systemic vision and openness of mind”, underlines the importance of an integrated approach involving all supply chain actors and promoting sustainable and collaborative marine resource management.
The fourth discourse is named “Local promotion and collaboration” since it highlights the significance of the statements falling into the second and third priority.
The last viewpoint, called “Sustainable fishing development”, prioritizes the development of the fishing sector through fleet modernization, port infrastructure improvements, workforce training, and adopting more sustainable fishing practices
From a policy perspective, the present study reveals a significant divergence between stakeholders’ perceived priorities, highlighting the potential need to revisit the allocation of financial resources for the blue transition of Italy’s fisheries and aquaculture sectors.
References
Brown SR (1980) Political Subjectivity: Applications of Q Methodology in Political Science.
Brugere C, Troell M, Eriksson H (2021) More than fish: policy coherence and benefit sharing as necessary conditions for equitable aquaculture development. Marine Policy 123: 104271.
European Commission (2021). National Operational Program funded by the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) 2021-2027. In EMFAF programmes 2021 - 2027 .
Krause G, Brugere C, Diedrich A, et al. (2015). A revolution without people? Closing the people–policy gap in aquaculture development. Aquaculture , 447, 44-55.
McKeown B, Thomas DB (2013) Q methodology (Vol. 66). Sage publications.
FAO (2024) The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024. In FAO eBooks.
Vecchio, Y., Masi, M., Del Giudice, T., De Rosa, M., & Adinolfi, F. (2024). Technological innovation in fisheries and aquaculture: What are the “discourses” of the Italian policy network?. Marine Policy, 159, 105947.
Watts S, Stenner P (2012) Doing Q Methodological Research: Theory, Method and Interpretation. In SAGE Publications Ltd.