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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The second meeting of the Subregional Committee for the Central Mediterranean (SRC-CM) of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (SAC) was held in Gammarth, Tunisia, on 9–10 March 2017. The main objectives of the meeting were to: i) integrate, as appropriate, the assessments of the status of central Mediterranean stocks provided by the Working Group on Stock Assessment of Demersal Species (WGSAD) and the Working Group on Stock Assessment of Small Pelagic Species (WGSASP); ii) comment on the outcomes of the Workshop on bioeconomic assessment of management measures (WKMSE); iii) compile new management measures implemented in the central Mediterranean countries, in line with Recommendation GFCM/40/2016/4 establishing a multiannual management plan for the fisheries exploiting European hake and deep-water rose shrimp in the Strait of Sicily (GSA 12 to 16); iv) provide advice in relation to the management of demersal resources in the Strait of Sicily, in accordance with the provisions of Recommendation GFCM/40/2016/4; and v) propose a list of activities of relevance to the subregion to be considered for the SAC work plan 2017–2019. The SRC-CM compiled a draft advice related to the management of demersal fisheries in the Strait of Sicily (Recommendation GFCM/40/2016/4). This included in particular a summary of the status of the stocks, an advice on the required reduction of fishing mortality to achieve maximum sustainable yield as well as an advice on management measures to be implemented for these fisheries with a recommendation to gradually reduce fishing mortality by applying spatial restrictions associated to nursery areas. In addition, the SRC-CM agreed to move towards the use of fleet-based models for the assessment of European hake and deep-water rose shrimp, to compile necessary socioeconomic information and work on the development of socioeconomic models to be incorporated in the assessment of management scenarios, to carry out training activities with a view to increasing capacity in the subregion, to expand the network of observers on board and to extend the GFCM/ACCOBAMS pilot study on elasmobranch bycatch.