Recreational marine fisheries are an integral part of Mediterranean and Black Sea coastal life and are commonly practiced throughout the region. However, despite their ubiquity and the socio-economic contribution they make in some areas, recreational fisheries are a data-poor sector. Data collection programmes to monitor their impact are limited and vary widely from one country to another, which makes it difficult to integtrate the recreational sector into policy-making, and undermines sustainable fisheries management planning at the regional level.  

In order to improve data collection for recreational fisheries at the regional level, a handbook has been developed to provide a clear and harmonized framework for sampling and survey monitoring schemes for the sector. This handbook is being tested through pilot studies in five different countries (one per GFCM subregion), representing diverse geographic and economic scenarios. There are two phases to the pilot studies: the first aims to build a statistical picture of recreational fishers at the national level, while the second focuses on collecting catch, effort and socio-economic data over the course of a full year. Based on the results of these pilot studies, and input from the experts of the Working Group on Recreational Fisheries (WGRF), it may be foreseen to extend these studies to additional countries.