82. The Committee acknowledged the commitment of the Commission to promote responsible fisheries in the area covered by the GFCM Agreement, as evidenced by the adoption of the Resolution GFCM 2002/1 on the Management of Selected Demersals and Small Pelagic Species.
83. The Committee reiterated the 2002 recommendations concerning the species included in the GFCM 2002/1 Resolution on the grounds that such stocks are in the same exploitation situation or have not been recently assessed. The Committee requested the Commission to encourage its Members to adopt measures aimed at adjusting fishing effort and at rationalising their exploitation in order to maintain the small pelagic recruitment stock at a level compatible with sustainable resources exploitation.
84. The Committee further recommended that the Commission should reinforce the implementation of the necessary measures to reverse the declining trends of the Merluccius merluccius, Aristeus antennatus, Mullus barbatus, Sardina pilchardus and Engraulis encrasicolus in specific subregional areas. Specific recommendations on species not listed are available in this report under the report of the Sub-Committee on Stock Assessment.
