This week, the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) held its first workshop on decarbonization – a significant new theme for the fishing sector in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. 

Decarbonization is the process of reducing and eliminating as far as possible greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in line with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting the average global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. 

Every major industry has a part to play in these efforts, marine industries included. However, while the global shipping fleet is already being incorporated into international frameworks for emissions reductions, including through the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the European Union’s proposed actions towards carbon pricing and a reduction in the GHG intensity in shipping fuels, the fishing fleet in our region has only recently been partially added to these efforts, including through a set of targets set forward by the EU.  

©GFCM/Ainoha Goma

Against this backdrop, and as climate change is a key consideration in its 2030 Strategy, the GFCM has taken a proactive approach to the issue by launching a long-term initiative to work towards decarbonization of the regional fleet and identify the best ways of doing so.  

The workshop took place at FAO headquarters in Rome and attracted more than 100 participants, including scientists, member country administrators, representatives of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) and GFCM experts.

“The workshop provided a constructive space for participants to discuss and share their ideas, experiences and best practices,” said Paolo Carpentieri, Fishery Resources Monitoring Officer at the GFCM. “It was good to see how seriously the sector is engaging with this urgent issue and encouraging to hear about some of the innovative approaches to immediately act on ensuring the sustainability of the fishing sector while conserving the marine ecosystem by reducing fleet emissions. The GFCM is committed to doing all it can to help its members take effective action towards decarbonization.”  

Workshop speakers presented the limited regional fleet emissions data that have been collected to date and shared the results of a selection of studies analysing the carbon footprint of particular fleet segments. As a first step towards collating comprehensive information on regional emissions, the GFCM is working to build its members’ capacities to collect national fleet fuel consumption data. There’s a clear need to agree on a protocol to collect essential emissions data and create a harmonized methodology to gather them, in order to first establish a baseline and then monitor progress moving forwards. 

©GFCM/Gloria Patzelt

Participants discussed the scope of potential synergies with other GFCM expert groups and existing monitoring programmes in areas such as discards, biological sampling and the bycatch of vulnerable species. Aspects of these programmes could be expanded to include the collection of basic information on fuel consumption and fleet emissions, particularly in areas and on fishing activities where data are most limited. 

The workshop went on to evaluate decarbonization activities already taking place in the fishing industry, reviewing a number of research projects, pilot studies and trials at sea that are currently underway in Algeria, Italy, Croatia, Spain and Türkiye, as well as further field. 

Some of these trials are investigating how far emissions could be reduced by modifying the types of gear used in different fishing activities, while others focus on methods of reducing vessel fuel consumption. Another area under exploration is how to limit seabed impacts during fishing, as these can also release carbon stored in the sea floor. 

Most of these trials are still at an early stage, and researchers are working closely with fishers and vessel operators to help find and refine the best solutions.  By the end of the workshop, participants agreed on a set of future steps for decarbonizing the Mediterranean and Black Sea fishing fleet. These will be compiled into a roadmap towards a low-carbon future for regional fisheries.