Abstract
The present study uses fisher knowledge to outline the basic socio-economic framework of Albanian lagoon fisheries based on on-the-spot interviews conducted with fishers operating in the most important Albanian lagoons. The results indicated that Albanian lagoon fisheries were family-based, with spatial differences observed in vessels from the northern lagoon that were older, larger in size, with more powerful engines, and involved more persons in comparison with corresponding vessels from the southern lagoon. The results also indicated that lagoon fisheries were in decline, ageing fishers, and encountering problems with illegal fishery and invasive species. Most of the fishers were aware that protected areas existed in Albanian waters, whereas severe contradictions among fishers existed about the need to establish new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). An aggravating factor that threatened the viability of the lagoon fisheries and coastal ecosystems was high incidental catches of the Blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. These issues revealed the increased marginalization of the Albanian lagoon fisheries that might be able to be generalized beyond this case study to other Mediterranean lagoons. The present work also highlighted the need to establish a decent stratified statistical survey to monitor the highly complex nature of lagoon fisheries.