GFCM/XXV/2000/2

INTRODUCTION

1. The paper summarizes the main regional and sub-regional activities that have been carried out by the Secretariat and the members of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) during the period July 1999 to July 2000.

FOLLOW-UP TO THE DECISIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH SESSION OF GFCM (ALICANTE, SPAIN, JULY 1999)

Evaluation of the Swordfish Stocks in the GFCM Area

2. The Twenty-fourth session reviewed the conclusions of the GFCM/ICCAT Joint Working Group on Large Pelagic Species (Genova, Italy, September 1998) and noted the large upward revisions of catches reported by some countries. The Commission agreed on the proposal by the Working Group that there would be little benefit in attempting a new swordfish assessment until more information/data were available. According to information from the ICCAT Secretariat, provided during the Third Session of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) held in May this year, contacts with member countries confirmed the fears of the Twenty-fourth Session as no substantial new data was to be found available since the last assessment. The Working Group decided however to meet this year in Malta (11-15 September 2000) to review and update the Mediterrranean database for bluefin tuna, swordfish and albacore and then evaluate if another assessment of these species was warranted. Coordinated tagging projects would also be discussed at the September meeting. Moreover, it is envisaged during the next session of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) scheduled for November 2000 in Morocco, to review the conclusions of the Working Group on allocation of quotas.

Management Units

3. The Commission reviewed the conclusions of the two SAC meetings (Rome, Italy, March and June 1999, respectively) and agreed on priorities to be implemented by SAC (Appendix D of the Twenty-fourth Session of the Commission).

4. The Commission noted that the identification of appropriate management units needed further discussion by SAC and should be further examined by the Twenty-fifth Session of the Commission. The Commission agreed with the conclusions of the SAC Sub-Committee on Stock Assessment that fixed the first priority to be an assessment of "those resources falling into the shared, straddling and highly migratory" categories. SAC Sub-Committees made a particular effort, based on the conclusions of the SAC Sub-Committee on Stock Assessment, to elaborate on the concept of management units. Despite some attempts by Spanish scientists to define such a concept in the Alboran Sea and a preliminary study carried out with the support of COPEMED, the Third Session of SAC was of the opinion that further in-depth investigations and discussions were still required to reach an agreement on the definition of management units in the GFCM area. The idea of establishing a specific working group to elaborate further the definition of management and operational units was agreed on at the Third Session of SAC. It will be discussed under item 5 of the Agenda of this Session.

Field Project for the Eastern Mediterranean

5. The need to extend to the Eastern Mediterranean a project with objectives similar to those of COPEMED and ADRIAMED, as recommended by SAC, was endorsed by the Commission. The Secretariat was informed that the financing of a project covering the Central Mediterranean is being considered by the Italian Government.

Decisions on the Management of Mediterranean Fishery Resources

6. The Commission did not adopt any binding resolutions during its Twenty-fourth Session. The Commission, however, reviewed the Resolutions of the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Sessions and concluded that these resolutions were still valid but noted that they were not yet fully complied with by some members.

7. The Commission, referring particularly to Resolution 95/4, reiterated the call on GFCM members to provide the Secretariat with a list of fishing boats operating from national ports in the Mediterranean.

8. The Commission reviewed a proposal by ICCAT to update GFCM Resolutions 95/1 and 97/3 concerning the limitation of catch of bluefin tuna and the changes of closed seasons for the purse seine fishing for bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean, and endorsed them.

AUTONOMOUS BUDGET AND SCALE OF CONTRIBUTION

9. In the course of its deliberation on this item, the Commission invited the Chairman and/or the Director-General of FAO to address a communication to GFCM member countries which had not yet deposited their letters of acceptance of the amendments to the GFCM Agreement relevant to an autonomous budget, urging them to do so at their earliest convenience.

10. A Note Verbale was sent by the Director-General of FAO on 30 September 1999 for this purpose. A meeting with the Permanent Representatives of 13 GFCM member countries was organized by the Secretariat on 2 February 2000. During the meeting, the Chairman of the Commission explained that without the acceptance of the amendments by at least two-thirds of the members, the Commission was, in practice, unable to proceed with its basic functions. The Chairman invited the Permanent Representatives to urge their Governments to give priority to this matter. As a follow-up to this meeting, a letter was sent (6 March 2000) by the Secretariat to GFCM members urging them to expedite the procedure for the acceptance of the amendments.

11. A second Note Verbale was sent by the Director-General of FAO on 2 May 2000 inviting members to deposit the instruments of acceptance as soon as possible to enable the Commission to fulfil its mandate and implement its programme of work. So far, only a few members have done so.

12. Concerning the calculation of the catch component in the scale of contributions to an autonomous budget, the Commission agreed that the Black Sea catches must be included in the GFCM tonnage, and the Commission requested the Secretariat to contact formally the Black Sea member countries to ascertain their intention in respect to their future participation in the activities of the Commission. A letter was sent to the three GFCM member countries bordering the Black Sea (Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey) on 2 August 1999, asking if they agreed that the Black Sea catches should be included in the calculation of the GFCM tonnage, assuming that the same countries would wish to remain members of GFCM. Romania reacted to the request of the Secretariat with a memorandum dated 11 August 1999 in which it stated that the "counting of the Black Sea catch in the scale of contribution appears as a normal way of working which we totally agree with". Bulgaria, in a letter dated 21 September 1999 made the same comments and informed FAO that procedures for the establishment of the Black Sea Commission had not progressed over the last few years.

ACTIVITIES BY the scientific advisory committee (sac) and the committee on aquaculture (CAQ)

Activities by SAC

Working Groups

13. The intersessional activities carried out by SAC and its subsidiary bodies consisted of a first meeting of the Working Group on Small Pelagic Species (Fuengirola, Spain, 1-3 March 2000) and a second meeting of its Working Group on Demersal Species (Sète, France, 21-23 March 2000). The two meetings were characterized by a large attendance of scientists and by constructive discussions. Details on these meetings may be provided by the Coordinators of the Working Groups. The report of the Third Session of SAC reflects the major decisions elaborated at the level of these two Working Groups after review and discussions by the Sub-Committee on Stock Assessment.

SAC/Sub-Committee Meetings

14. The sessions of the four SAC Sub-Committees (i) Sub-Committee on Economic and Social Sciences (SCESS), (ii) Sub-Committee for Stock Assessment (SCSA), (iii) Sub-Committee on Fisheries Statistics and Information (SCSI), and Sub-Committee on Marine Environment and Ecosystems (SCMEE) were held in Madrid from 26 to 29 April 2000 prior to the Session of the Committee itself.

Scientific Advisory Committee (2-5 May 2000)

15. The Third Session of SAC was held in Madrid, back-to-back with the meetings of its Sub-Committees. It was attended by delegates from 14 members and one observer from ICCAT. The Committee reviewed the conclusions and recommendations of the two Working Groups mentioned above, as well as the latest developments in the preparation of the next Session of the GFCM/ICCAT Working Group on Large Pelagic Species. The conclusions and recommendations of the Sub-Committees were also analysed. The programmes of work proposed by the Working Groups and the Sub-Committees were discussed.

16. The major recommendations of SAC are reported in the Report of its Third Session (paragraphs 61 to 69). The Committee reviewed the ICCAT Resolutions concerning large pelagic species management in the Mediterranean and noted that the GFCM Resolution 97/3 that prohibits bluefin purse seine fishing during the period 1 to 31 August needed some modifications. The Committee agreed to the extension of such a ban to the Adriatic Sea for the period 1 to 31 May and to the rest of the Mediterranean from 16 July to 15 August. The Committee also ageed to raise the minimum weight of the bluefin tuna from 1.8 kg to 3.2 kg. Details on these Resolutions and on views of SAC about their applicability to the GFCM area are included in the report of the Third Session of SAC (paragraph 40) (GFCM/XXV/2000/Inf.4).

Committee on Aquaculture

17. Besides the various activities that were carried out during the intersessional period by the networks functioning under, or in cooperation with, the Aquaculture Committee, the same period was marked by the organization of a Consultation on the Application of Article 9 of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries in the Mediterranean Region (Rome, Italy, 19-23 July 1999). The main outcome of the Consultation was the adoption of a Plan of Action that aimed at the implementation of the Code principles, the improvement of planning, mechanisms, the conservation of the environment and the stabilization of the trade in aquaculture products in the Mediterranean. A project idea for the implementation of the main regional priorities identified by the Consultation was prepared by the Secretariat for submission to the Second Session of the Committee.

18. The Second Session of the Committee on Aquaculture (Rome, Italy, 13-16 June 2000) was attended by 14 members of GFCM. The Committee reviewed the major recommendations of the GFCM sessions of relevance to aquaculture and took note of some of the difficulties experienced by some member countries in relaunching this sector. The need for a clear analysis of the interaction between capture fisheries and aquaculture was raised.

19. The intersessional activities carried out by the Networks were discussed by the Committee. The need to ensure liaison with other new networks such as the European Aquaculture Society was strengthened. Questions were raised about the inclusion of environment-related activities in the programme of work of the Environment and Aquaculture in the Mediterranean Network (EAM) and the Committee agreed that genetic pollution, for instance, should be monitored and controlled.

20. It was also agreed to suggest that the outcome of the Consultation should be included in SOFIA and reported to COFI.

21. The Committee reviewed its programme of work for the future intersessional period. The programme will be discussed under item 6 of the Agenda.

22. Under any other matters, the issue of the use of Arabic by the Committee was raised. It was recommended that the meeting of CAQ be held in the four GFCM languages. The Committee recommended also that aquaculture and capture fisheries be integrated as part of a single system for provision of fish supply to the populations of the member countries. It was further recommended that appropriate importance be given to the financial requirements of the Committee on Aquaculture.

SUGGESTED ACTION BY THE COMMISSION

23. The Commission is invited to take note of the activities carried out by GFCM during the intersessional period and to provide guidance for the full implementation of its Resolutions by member States. In-depth review of the recommendations by SAC, CAQ and the GFCM/ICCAT Working Group will be made under appropriate items of the Agenda.