The Exclusive Economic Zone of Croatia ( hr, Isključivi gospodarski pojas, IGP) is a protected fishing area over

Croatian Croatian may refer to: * Croatia *Croatian language *Croatian people *Croatians (demonym) See also * * * Croatan (disambiguation) * Croatia (disambiguation) * Croatoan (disambiguation) * Hrvatski (disambiguation) * Hrvatsko (disambiguation) * S ...

half of

Adriatic sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

. The EEZ was firstly proclaimed as Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone ( hr, Zaštićeni ekološko-ribolovni pojas, ZERP) and initiated by the

Croatian Peasant Party The Croatian Peasant Party ( hr, Hrvatska seljačka stranka, HSS) is an agrarianism, agrarian List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia founded on 22 December 1904 by Antun Radić, Antun and Stjepan Radić as Croatian Peo ...

, then a member of Croatia's governing coalition.Protected Ecological Fishery Zone: Now or Never
The Government of Ivica Račan proposed it to the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sab ...

, which voted in favour on 3 October 2003. It came into effect exactly one year later, excluding European Union member states. The government informed the

United Nations Secretariat The United Nations Secretariat (french: link=no, Secrétariat des Nations unies) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), The secretariat is the UN's executive arm. The secretariat has an important role in setting the a ...

of the decision prior to the 2004 enactment of the zone. On 1 January 2008, the zone came into full effect as it began to be enforced for EU nations. The zone has an area of 23,870 square kilometres. The exact boundaries of the zone date back to treaties between what was then

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in 1968 and between Croatia and

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

in 2001. Prior to the ZERP's declaration, Italian ships annually caught 300 million

euros The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . Th ...

worth of fish from the zone - ten times the amount which Croatian ships caught.Croatia seizes Italian boat days after fishery zone comes into force
/ref> In its enactment of the zone, the Croatian Government also cited the danger of the

Prestige oil spill The ''Prestige'' oil spill occurred off the coast of Galicia, Spain in November 2002, caused by the sinking of the 26-year-old, structurally deficient oil tanker , carrying 77,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil. During a storm, it burst a tank on 13 ...

being repeated on the Croatian Adriatic, which would seriously affect the country's tourism industry. The zone has widespread support in Croatia. All major political parties support the zone, including the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

, and Democratic Centre. The

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Cro ...

has been a cautious supporter, wary of the EU's response. In 2008, Luigi Giannini, leader of Italian fishermen's organisation Federcoopesca, declared that one-third of all Italian fishing activity took place in the ZERP. On 10 March 2008, the HDZ-led government decided not to enforce ZERP for EU members from 15 March 2008 onwards. In 2011, during negotiations with the European Union, it was decided that Croatia could proclaim an ecological protection zone for third countries, but not for EU member states. Slovenian fishermen catch about 40% of their fish in the zone. On February 5, 2021, the

unanimously declared EEZ after consultations with Italy and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

, after it became known that Italy was planning to declare EEZ on its part Adriatic sea.

Enforcement

On 3 January 2008, the

Croatian Navy , image = Seal of Croatian Navy.png , caption = Emblem of the Croatian Navy , start_date = 1991 , country = , allegiance = , branch = , type = Navy , role = , size = 1,36330 vessels , command_structure = Armed Forces of Croatia , ga ...

intercepted an Italian boat which had passed through the zone and was in Croatian territorial waters. The fishing boat was escorted to

Vis Vis, ViS, VIS, and other capitalizations may refer to: Places * Vis (island), a Croatian island in the Adriatic sea ** Vis (town), on the island of Vis * Vis (river), in south-central France * Vis, Bulgaria, a village in Haskovo Province * V ...

by a navy warship and the three fishermen were arrested. On 6 February 2008, the Turkish cargo ship ''UND Adriyatik'' caught fire just outside the zone. According to Croatian media, it was seen as a test for the ZERP. On 26 May 2021, the maritime police from

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertain ...

intercepted an Italian fisherman with two Italians onboard. They were charged of illegally crossing the border and fishing without privileges within the territorial sea of the Republic of Croatia. At the fishing boat, the police officers found and seized six caches with 20.4 kilograms of various types of fish.

References

External links

Decision on the Extension of the Jurisdiction of the Republic of Croatia in the Adriatic Sea, 3 October 2003
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecological And Fisheries Protection Zone Nature conservation in Croatia Exclusive economic zones Fisheries protection Fishing in Europe Croatia–Slovenia relations Croatia–Italy relations Protected areas of Croatia