General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean - GFCM

Management plan | European eel in the Mediterranean Sea

European eel (Anguilla anguilla) fisheries are important in coastal areas, lagoons and inland waters of most GFCM countries. Concern over European eel in Mediterranean areas was raised as early as 2003, and the management of the species has become a priority since it was included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 2009. Following the GFCM European eel pilot action in 2013, assessment, management measures and a research programme have been implemented.

The GFCM adopted the first multiannual management plan for European eel in 2018 and revised it in 2023 (Recommendation GFCM/46/2023/16 on a long-term management plan for European eel in the Mediterranean Sea, repealing Recommendations GFCM/45/2022/1 and GFCM/42/2018/1). The current management plan is based on the outcomes of the research programme, which outlined a stepwise approach: implementing transitional measures while working towards underpinning complementary and/or alternative measures to address the fishing mortality of European eel for the long-term duration of the plan (2025–2029).

MAIN PROVISIONS

  • Covers all activities catching European eel, namely targeted, incidental and recreational catch.
  • Includes within its scope marine waters, freshwaters and transitional brackish waters, such as lagoons and estuaries.
  • Establishes transitional measures to address the immediate need to decrease fishing mortality and to ensure that the stock is kept at biologically sustainable levels over the long term, including a 30 percent reduction in fishing effort or catch, options for alternative configurations of temporal closures, and a ban on recreational fishing.
  • Implements specific measures to address illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing (e.g. recording of catch, designation of landing ports, prohibition of transshipment, establishment of an observation and inspection programme).

OBJECTIVE

Provide and maintain high long-term yields and guarantee a low risk of stock collapse while maintaining sustainable and relatively stable fisheries.

RELEVANT DECISIONS

  • Recommendation GFCM/46/2023/16 on a long-term management plan for European eel in the Mediterranean Sea, repealing Recommendations GFCM/45/2022/1 and GFCM/42/2018/1

    • Learn more about the GFCM's management plans.