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Working towards sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea

Delivering tangible results from strategic actions in 2017–2021









FAO. 2023. Working towards sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea - Delivering tangible results from strategic actions in 2017–2021. General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. Rome.



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    Mid-term stratregy (2017-2020) towards the sustainability of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries: five targets, selected outputs, proposed actions 2017
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    Thirteen years after the adoption of the Declaration of the Ministerial Conference for the Sustainable Development of Fisheries in the Mediterranean (2003 Venice Declaration), great strides have been made in promoting responsible fisheries practices. In particular, the role of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has been crucial in promoting common rules and strengthening regional cooperation in the Me diterranean and the Black Sea. However, fisheries in the area still face serious challenges, as roughly 90 percent of the region’s scientifically assessed stocks are considered to be fished outside safe biological limits. Such alarming trends not only negatively impact the fisheries sector itself, but they also hinder attempts to ensure secure livelihoods and food security, through blue growth initiatives, for the coastal communities in the region. As a response to these challenges, the GFCM has launched the “mid-term strategy (2017-2020) towards the sustainability of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries” in order to define a course of decisive action aimed at reverting the alarming trend in the status of commercially exploited stocks. Aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the mid-term strategy seeks to improve Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries and contribute to the sustainable development of coastal States. Through the implementation of the following five tar gets, the mid-term strategy is expected to ensure that, by 2020, the alarming trend in the status of commercially exploited stocks is reversed: TARGET 1: Reverse the declining trend of fish stocks through strengthened scientific advice in support of management TARGET 2: Support livelihoods for coastal communities through sustainable small-scale fisheries TARGET 3: Curb illegal unreported and unregulated fishing, through a regional plan of action TARGET 4: Minimize and mitigate unwanted interact ions between fisheries and marine ecosystems and environment TARGET 5: Enhance capacity-building and cooperation
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    Report of the Expert Meeting on Climate Change Implications for Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries, Rome, 4 - 6 December 2017
    Fisheries and Aquaculture Report No. 1233
    2018
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    The Expert Meeting on Climate Change Implications for Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries, was held at the GFCM, Rome, 4–6 December 2017, with the objective to provide technical support the development of an adaptation strategy to cope with the potential effects of climate change on fisheries, in the framework of the GFCM Mid-term strategy (2017–2020) towards the sustainability of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea Fisheries. The meeting was attended by experts working on Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries and experts engaged in the assessment of projected impacts of climate change to the Mediterranean and Black Seas. The meeting reviewed the existing information on the observed and expected impacts of climate change on Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries, as well as the most relevant elements on vulnerability and the existing and potential adaptation measures. Agreement was reached on the need to enhance the knowledge on the implications of climate change to fisheries in the region and to identify options to cope with the expected impacts. In this regard, the meeting elaborated elements of a methodology to assess risks and vulnerabilities of fisheries to climate change. A roadmap for the review, endorsement and application of the methodology was elaborated aiming at contributing to the elaboration of regional climate change adaptation strategy in the mid-term.
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    General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. Report of the twentieth session of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries, Tangiers, Morocco, 26-29 June 2018/Rapport de la vingtième session du Comité scientifique consultatif des pêches,. Tanger, Maroc, 26-29 juin 2018 2018
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    The Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (SAC) of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) held its twentieth session in Tangiers, Morocco, from 26 to 29 June 2018. The session was attended by delegates from 14 Mediterranean contracting parties, seven observers, representatives of the FAO regional projects, the GFCM Secretariat and invited experts. The Committee reviewed the work carried out during the 2017–2018 intersession, including within its four subregional subsidiary bodies (Subregional Committee for the Adriatic Sea, Subregional Committee for the Central Mediterranean, Subregional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean and Subregional Committee for the Western Mediterranean) which all met during the intersession. In relation to the mid-term strategy (2017–2020) towards the sustainability of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries, the Committee welcomed the progress in multiple priority activities as well as cooperation with partners. Issues in relation to fishery data quality, data collection needs and methodologies, estimation and quantification of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and formulation of advice on the status of fisheries were discussed. Recalling the need to improve knowledge on small-scale fisheries in the the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, the work underway to test a characterization matrix as well as the forthcoming Regional Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black Sea were tackled. Furthermore, the Committee formulated advice on the following aspects: i) overall status of Mediterranean stocks; ii) management of European eel; iii) management of deep-sea fisheries and identification of VMEs and iv) roadmap towards a network of essential fish habitats. In line with the subregional approach and based on the conclusions of the four subregional committees, the SAC also provided specific advice for each subregion. In particular, attention was paid to: i) blackspot seabream in the western Mediterranean; ii) demersal fisheries in the Strait of Sicily; iii) small pelagic fisheries in the Adriatic Sea; iv) demersal fisheries in the Adriatic Sea, including the monitoring of the Jabuka/Pomo Pit fisheries restricted area; and v) deep-water red shrimps in the central and eastern Mediterranean. In addition, the Committee also endorsed un updated table of priority species by subregion. Finally, the Committee agreed upon its work plan for 2018–2020 and elected its new Bureau.

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