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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The first meeting of the Subregional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean (SRC-EM) of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (SAC) was held in FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy, on 24–25 February 2017. The aims of the meeting were to: i) compile and discuss the status of eastern Mediterranean stocks as emanating from the Working Group on Stock Assessment of Demersal Species (WGSAD) and the Working Group on Stock Assessment of Small Pelagic Species (WGSASP); ii) evaluate the outcomes of the SAC technical activities relevant to the management of eastern Mediterranean fisheries, including issues related to the management of deep-sea fisheries and vulnerable marine ecosystems; iii) take stock of relevant subregional initiatives and provide advice towards the management of the resources in the subregion, including the implementation of multiannual management plans; and iv) propose a list of activities of relevance to the subregion to be considered for the 2017–2018 SAC work plan. The SRC-EM formulated a draft advice on issues related to fisheries in the subregion, including a summary of the status of the stocks, advice on data collection for the future implementation of a management plan, measures to manage eastern Mediterranean deep-sea fisheries, the establishment of a monitoring programme for alien species and a revision of the priority species list according to the needs of the subregion. In addition, the SRC-EM suggested that it would be important to improve the coverage of scientific surveys, participate in a pilot study on non-indigenous species (NIS) proposed by the Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP) and the GFCM and compile relevant information on puffer fish, deepwater red shrimps and sardinella.