Download the report (available only in English): PDF

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The expert meeting on the formulation of advice on fisheries (WKADVICE) was held at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters in Rome (Italy) on 1 March 2018. The main objectives of the meeting were to: i) analyse the process of submission and compilation of input data and provide recommendations on how to streamline it; ii) assess the needs of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (SAC) and the Working Group on the Black Sea (WGBS) to provide regular and comprehensive advice on the status of priority species and provide recommendations on issues such as the organization of the stock assessment working groups, including their timeline; and iii) to discuss alternatives to ensure the quality of advice, including through benchmarking and/or external reviewing processes. The meeting provided suggestions towards the implementation of a process of benchmarking for stock assessments. It also requested the GFCM subregional committees to provide a proposal for a multiannual work plan to ensure the objectives of the mid-term strategy (2017-2020) towards the sustainability of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries, in relation to the quality of advice. In addition, the meeting highlighted the need to reduce time between the compilation of fisheries information and decisions taken at the Commission, underlining the necessity to discuss this issue at the upcoming twentieth session of the SAC.