175 | Blue value chains: the integration of the marine domain into the International Regulatory Framework

Flavia Murabito | Università della Calabria, Rende (CS), Italy.

In 2025, in Italy and several several associations and enterprises intensified the use of FEAMPA resources to advance environmentally sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, with particular emphasis on youth participation, gender balance, and the development of territorial networks. These investments generated new employment opportunities, supported the creation of approximately one thousand enterprises, and safeguarded existing jobs, while promoting diversification models such as ittiturismo and fishing tourism to enhance the value of local catches and, properly, traditional fishering product chains. The year also marked UNESCO’s recognition of Italian Cuisine as Intangible Cultural Heritage, reinforcing the strategic relevance of small-scale artisanal fisheries as high‑value supply chains. Global consumption trends - driven primarily by Asia - highlight a growing demand for aquaculture products, particularly those derived from integrated multitrophic systems capable of contributing to global protein needs in line with the 2030 Agenda. At the same time, the decline in biologically sustainable fish stocks underscores the urgency of regulatory action. Recent international frameworks - including Italy’s Sea Pact for the Earth (2023), the European Ocean Pact (2025), and the UN High Seas Treaty (BBNJ, 2026) - collectively aim to protect 30% of marine areas and promote sustainable resource governance. Within this evolving geopolitical and regulatory landscape, Italy’s extensive coastline positions the country at the centre of a new perception of the Mediterranean as an economic, commercial, and sustainability‑oriented space, where research on integrated multitrophic aquaculture can play a pivotal and cross‑sectoral role from both cultural and scientific perspectives.