Central
Central government is responsible for:
- Planning and national fishery policy;
- Increasing the added value of fishery products;
- Making better use of the funds provided by the Common Fishery policy;
- Protecting the environment and ensuring the sustainability of the natural resources that are used by the fishery industry;
- Development, exploitation and protection of marine fisheries and inland waters;
- Development of extensive and intensive aquaculture;
- Mitigating illegal fishing activities;
- Trade and processing of fisheries and aquaculture products;
- Control of fisheries' activities;
- Recreational and sport fisheries; and
- Tourism for fishing.
- Authorising projects under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
- Cooperating with European and international bodies on issues of fishery policy
Regional
Regional authorities are responsible for:
- The administration, management and exploitation of fisheries water;
- The lease by auction of fisheries water, the determination of the protective zone around the installed gear in marine coastal areas. The implementation of the terms of lease contracts, as well as the decision of unilateral termination of the lease;
- The decision of imposing sanctions in cases of violation of fishing rules;
- Granting permits of establishment and operation fresh fish packing, packaging laboratories and frozen fish processing;
- The decision to increase or decrease the lease of a fishing farm to individuals, as well as the decision to decrease or eliminate the conventional lease in case of inability of fisheries’ exploitation and the decision of termination or extension of the lease;
- The decision to lease a farm without a tender to fisheries associations, to sign the contract and to determine the rent;
- The approval of environmental conditions concerning the establishment of aquaculture units;
- The identification of aquaculture industrial units as farms/agricultural business;
- The determination of the spatial region of each auction;
- Monitoring the pollution and contamination of the aquatic environment;
- Researching and planning projects of development and administration concerning fisheries, aquacultures and their exploitation;
- The determination of any expenditure required for temporary farm exploitation;
- The decision on how to exploit the fishery waters;
- The decision to defer the starting date of the lease of a farm;
- The decision to import and deposit revenues and expenditures for the temporal operation of a fishing farm;
- The decision on the mean payment of the lease of a fish farm, the determination of the platform for the gathering of agricultural products and the decision to confer the management of the fixed rate of the lease in kind to the Agricultural Bank of Greece;
- Monitoring the administration of employed fishing association and the operations of aquaculture and exploitation of fish farming waters;
- The decision to terminate the lease of a fish farm;
- The decision to lease, without auction, of bordering fish farm waters and the determination of the terms of the contract.
- The decision to lease proper spaces for the culture of shells.
- The decision to grant proper areas for a trial placement of original forms of cultivation of aquatic animals and the subsequent decision to lease the premises and the decision to renew the lease
- Reinvesting 5% of fishery rents for the improvement of inland waters.
Local
Municipal authorities are responsible for:
- The protection and management of water resources, the protection of the soil and inland waters (lagoons, lakes, farms, rivers) by fishing and pollution in their territory;
- The research and implementation of infrastructure projects of local importance regarding agriculture, livestock and fisheries especially projects related to rural roads, construction of reservoirs, pasture improvement and land reclamation;
- Researching and studying issues concerning agricultural, livestock and fisheries development and preserve rural populations in their homeland;
- The cooperation with agricultural and fisheries research centres;
- The supervision of the fisheries sector in the territory;
- Leasing of municipal lands for industrial or manufacturing purposes, and fisheries units;
- The decision for the destruction, sale and approving the results of the auction or disposal of confiscated materials and means of fishing;
- The decision for the implementation of the project of aquaculture development with the reproduction of young fish to provide to private aquaculturers;
- Gathering and maintaining aquaculture and fisheries data;
- Planning of research and studies and producing simple papers as far as fisheries, aquaculture and protecting the aquatic ecosystem is concerned;
- Organising information meetings with fishermen, fish farmers and workers in the fisheries sector:
- The authorisation to enrich lakes and rivers and the determination of the fishing prohibition period;
- The permission to fishing boats to conduct test fishing;
- The approval (or the withdrawal of the approval) of granting, by the competent authorities, permissions of departure of fishing boats for fishing in international waters;
- Keeping records of all fisheries exploitation;
- Addressing issues and proposing measures concerning the movement, processing, packaging, maintenance and marketing of fishery products in collaboration with the respective departments and agencies;
- Imposing special or additional restrictive measures on fishing;
- Approving the conduct of sport fishing and licensing amateur and professional fishing;
- Permitting the use of diving equipment in case of research;
- Approving the replacement of a fishing boat or the engine of a fishing boat;
- Granting the license to transfer ownership of commercial fishing boat;
- Imposing sanctions on those who do not provide information concerning the production and the value of fish catches of their professional fishing boats;
- Granting license for fishing brood fish and other aquatic organisms;
- Providing agreement for the import from abroad of live aquatic animals and plants or algae or their eggs for artificial breeding or restocking waters;
- The approval of granting, by the competent authorities, permissions of fishing to professional and amateur fishing or sponge boats;
- The determination of the duration, start and end of the fishing prohibition period in the territorial rivers;
- The determination of the fishing prohibition period and the restrictions for fishing in lakes of the spatial competence of the municipality;
- The temporary suspension of fishing and sponge licenses for a certain period in the spatial area of the municipality, for the protection of fish production and the regulation of fishing and sponge diving;
- The creation of three-member boards in charge of litigation of fishing appeals;
- Approving and amending fishery associations and providing them with technical guidance;
- The approval to amend or supplement the only gear that is allowed for fishing in the lakes;
- Manufacturing and operating fishing shelters, infrastructure and equipment in fishing ports or ports serving fishing boats;
- Providing opinions for the concession, lease and renewal of a lease of wetlands for the creation, expansion and relocation of intensive or mid-intensive aquaculture units as well as the authorisation of their establishment and operation; and
- The decision to establish conditions for amateur fishing licenses, the determination of the number of mechanically complex fishing (purse seine) fisheries complexes in the Greek part of the Lake Great Prespa and the conditions under which the fishery will be conducted.
- The decision to offer to public services or research institutes the fishery equipment, including boats and tools, that has been confiscated but not auctioned.
Sources
Law 3463/2006 (OJ Α 114/30.6.2006) 'Code for Municipalities and Communities', Article 75.
Law 3852/2010 (OJ Α 87/7.6.2010) 'Reorganisation of Local Government - Kallikratis Programme', Articles 94 and 186.
EMFF Factsheet, Greece.
