Download the report (available only in English): PDF

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The third meeting of the Subregional Committee for the Western Mediterranean (SRC-WM) of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) was held in Sète, France, on 5 April 2019. The SRCWM was preceded by a benchmark assessment of blackspot seabream (Pagellus bogaraveo) on 1–4 April 2019, to provide the SRC-WM with updated scientific advice on the status of the resource and technical inputs for management discussions. The aims of the SRC-WM were to: i) provide advice on blackspot seabream in line with the adopted recommendations and the proposed roadmap for the quantitative assessment of the species, including on a minimum conservation reference size (MCRS); ii)  compile relevant information on the status of western Mediterranean fisheries and provide advice to the Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (SAC), including on urgent actions towards sustainability and following the requests made by the Commission; iii) identify priority topics for the subregion, including in relation to data collection, the provision of advice and the implementation of management measures; and iv) prepare a draft work plan to address priority issues for the consideration of the SAC.

The SRC-WM formulated a draft advice on relevant issues for the subregion, including a summary of the status of the stocks, the assessment and management of blackspot seabream in the Strait of Gibraltar, priorities in the context of the Regional plan of action for small-scale fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black Sea (RPOA-SSF), the implementation of a vulnerability assessment of Mediterranean fisheries to climate change, issues related to the identification of essential fish habitats and the monitoring of blue crab (Callinectes sapidus). It also forwarded to the consideration of the SAC a proposal for the establishment of a fisheries restricted area (FRA) in a deep-sea sensitive habitat located in the Ligurian and North Tyrrhenian seas. Finally, it agreed on a work plan for the 2019–2020 intersessions.