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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Working Group on Fishing Technology (WGFiT) of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) held its first meeting in Tunis, Tunisia on 17–18 April 2018. During the meeting, experts from the Mediterranean and Black Sea region presented an overview of existing studies on selectivity and fishing technology in the region, as well as an overview of the technical properties of active and passive fishing gear in use in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Participants concluded that there was a need to establish a network of experts in fishing technology that would contribute to the work of the working group during the intersession. In particular, it was agreed that future work should be linked to the priorities of the GFCM, in particular in relation to key fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea for which management plans have been adopted or are currently being discussed. Based on the expertise available at the meeting, specific discussions were held on priority actions for deep-water rose shrimp and European hake in the Strait of Sicily (GSAs 12–16), deep-water red shrimp in the eastern-central Mediterranean (GSAs 12–27) and turbot in the Black Sea (GSA 29). As regards operational conclusions, the working group agreed on the following: i) information on hake in the Strait of Sicily and more in general for trawling fisheries in the Mediterranean could be used to start providing some precautionary advice on technical measures and ii) a potential technical solution to reduce discards in discards hotspots could be to require the use of grids (JTEDs) or other devices that ensure a reduction of bycatch of juveniles and other species. Terms of reference for the future work of the group were discussed and specific activities of the WGFiT were identified, including i) developing an online repository for existing studies on gear technology and selectivity, with a view to improving dissemination of work and avoiding duplication of efforts; ii) ensuring a comprehensive update of the overview of selectivity studies in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea; iii) providing clear fishing technology guidance in line with GFCM management measures, including but not limited to guidance on measuring mesh size and on the regulation of gear; iv) contributing to the development of a catalogue of fishing gear, building on existing work carried out in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea; and v) providing advice on improving the selectivity of gear to improve the exploitation pattern and reduce the bycatch of vulnerable species, including in coordination with ACCOBAMs and/or other relevant organizations.