Aquaculture projects in Albania: licensing, water surfaces and approvals
An Albanian aquaculture project needs a licence under Law No. 103/2016 'On Aquaculture' and, if it uses public land or water surfaces, a separate public-competition award from the Council of Ministers procedure before any construction. Confirm the current licensing authority, surface-use basis and National Food Authority registration for the actual species and location before ordering infrastructure.
ALL · Albanian lek
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The aquaculture law and the Ministry of Agriculture
- Law No. 103/2016 'On Aquaculture', as amended by Law No. 22/2019, governs commercial aquaculture activity under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; it sets the legal basis for licensing, use of water surfaces and sector development. Request the current licence categories and application documents directly from the ministry rather than relying on a general summary. [1](https://bujqesia.gov.al/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Ligj-PER-AKUAKULTUREN-nr.-103-2016-date-20.10.2016-perditesuar.pdf)
- The earlier Law No. 7908 'On Fishery and Aquaculture' (1995) and Law No. 64/2012 'On Fishing' remain part of the legal history of the sector; ask which provisions on licensing, fishing rights and aquaculture definitions are still in force for the proposed activity. [2](https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/alb4363E.pdf)
Public water and land surfaces need a competition award
- Council of Ministers Decision No. 712/2013 (as amended through 2021) sets the rules, criteria and deadlines for the public competition procedure governing fishing rights in inland waters and aquaculture development on public land and water surfaces. If the project site is public domain — a reservoir, lagoon or coastal water area — confirm whether this competition has been run for the parcel and what conditions attach to the award before costing any cage or raceway equipment.
- For marine cages (seabass, seabream) and coastal shellfish culture, and for inland trout raceways fed by mountain streams, separate the water/surface-rights dossier from the National Food Authority's establishment approval; a competition award alone does not constitute a food-safety or animal-health clearance.
Equipment delivery to a coastal or inland site
- Specify the quote currency, Incoterm, the receiving port (e.g. Durrës) or border crossing, and who is responsible for last-mile delivery, unloading and installation at the farm. A price delivered to an EU hub is not an installed-farm price in Albania; confirm customs and import obligations independently.
- Compare marine cage mooring, netting and feed-barge packages, or raceway/pond aeration and pumping packages, against the site's measured depth, current, flow and oxygen data rather than a generic stocking-density assumption. Keep civil works, equipment supply, installation and acceptance testing as separate, individually priced items.
Albania project brief checklist
For the Albanian site, include administrative area (qark/bashki) and coordinates, legal applicant and site rights, species/life stage, intended annual harvest and peak biomass, water/surface-use and approval status, measured seasonal water data, intake/discharge layout, power and backup, access/delivery point, quote currency and budget. Attach the aquaculture licence status under Law No. 103/2016, any public-surface competition award under VKM 712/2013 and the National Food Authority establishment registration, and mark every unconfirmed assumption. Separate studies/applications, civil works, equipment, installation and acceptance responsibilities. FishMatch reviews commercial projects of USD 250,000 or more by hand; smaller projects can still use the free planning tools.
Request private project reviewCalculate from your measured site inputs
Albania buyer questions
Which local issue should I resolve first in Albania?
Confirm the aquaculture licence route with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development under Law No. 103/2016, and, if the site is on public land or water, check whether the public-competition award under VKM 712/2013 has been secured for that parcel.
Does a recirculating system remove site and water requirements?
No. Confirm site use, water abstraction, discharge, animal health and the applicable environmental procedure separately. The designer must use the actual species, water resource and permit conditions.
Will FishMatch expose supplier contacts or forward the brief automatically?
No. Project requests are private and human-reviewed; supplier identities and contacts remain confidential and there is no automatic supplier routing. Procurement assistance is for commercial projects of USD 250,000 or more; the planning tools remain free.
Institutional and legal references
- Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development — Law No. 103/2016 'On Aquaculture' (updated, consolidated text)
- Law No. 7908, dated 5 April 1995, 'On Fishery and Aquaculture' — official text via FAOLEX
- Council of Ministers Decision No. 712/2013 on public-competition procedures for fishing rights and aquaculture on public surfaces — FAOLEX
- FAO — Albania fisheries and aquaculture country profile
Prepared 16 October 2026 from the linked institutional and legal references. This is editorial planning guidance, not a legal opinion, local engineering design, approval or independent expert sign-off. Laws and administrative procedures can change; confirm the consolidated rules and site-specific applicability before committing capital. No verified local tariffs, project prices, production gains or market-demand measurements are asserted.