Economic Consequences of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) on Fisheries in the Eastern Mediterranean (Cyprus)

Elias Giannakis, Louis Hadjioannou, Carlos Jimenez, Marios Papageorgiou, Anastasis Karonias and Antonis Petrou
Additional contact information
Elias Giannakis: The Cyprus Institute, Energy Environment and Water Research Center, 20 Konstantinou Kavafi Street, Nicosia 2121, Cyprus
Louis Hadjioannou: Enalia Physis Environmental Research Centre (ENALIA), Acropoleos 2, Aglantzia 2101, P.O. Box 26728, Nicosia 1647, Cyprus
Carlos Jimenez: The Cyprus Institute, Energy Environment and Water Research Center, 20 Konstantinou Kavafi Street, Nicosia 2121, Cyprus
Marios Papageorgiou: Enalia Physis Environmental Research Centre (ENALIA), Acropoleos 2, Aglantzia 2101, P.O. Box 26728, Nicosia 1647, Cyprus
Anastasis Karonias: Enalia Physis Environmental Research Centre (ENALIA), Acropoleos 2, Aglantzia 2101, P.O. Box 26728, Nicosia 1647, Cyprus
Antonis Petrou: Enalia Physis Environmental Research Centre (ENALIA), Acropoleos 2, Aglantzia 2101, P.O. Box 26728, Nicosia 1647, Cyprus

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 22, 1-11

Abstract: Fisheries are among the sectors hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) crisis due to the sudden decrease in the demand for seafood. This study employs demand-driven and supply-driven input-output models to conduct an economy-wide assessment of the contraction of the fisheries activities in Cyprus, as well as a questionnaire survey to reveal fishermen’s perceptions of COVID-19 crisis impacts. The results at the macroeconomic level reveal that the contraction in the economic output of the fisheries sector does not have any significant impact on the wider economy due to the small size of the sector. However, the COVID-19 crisis has major negative effects on fishermen’s income and the livelihoods of fishers’ households. The average gross margin of the interviewed fishermen for March 2020, i.e., the month where a national quarantine and lockdown was imposed, was four times less the average monthly gross margin for the winter period (December 2019–February 2020) and 2.5 times less compared to the average monthly gross margin of 2019. The recessionary impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in conjunction with the chronic challenges that fisheries are currently facing in Cyprus, negatively affect the viability of the sector.

Keywords: small-scale fisheries; fishermen’s income; fishery value chain; input-output model; economic recovery measures; questionnaire survey; demand-driven multipliers; supply-driven multipliers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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