Rome, Italy – On the occasion of the first meeting of the Working Group on Small-Scale and Recreational Fisheries, organizations and stakeholders working in the sector have taken concrete steps to enhance their collaboration and promote synergies in order to support the sustainable development of small-scale fisheries. Acknowledging the multi-faceted nature of interventions to support the sector, several organizations have indeed decided to take action and step up their cooperation efforts in order to establish regular and long-term coordination mechanism.

In light of the current regional policy context, which puts specific emphasis on this vibrant and crucial sector for the region, this coordination mechanism represents an opportunity for unique interdisciplinary partnerships. In particular, the Mid-term strategy (2017-2020) towards the sustainability of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries, endorsed by the GFCM, and the “Malta MedFish4Ever Ministerial Declaration”, signed in March 2017 by several fisheries authorities of Mediterranean countries under the auspices of the European Commission, clearly underline the key role of the sector to reach fisheries sustainability and secure livelihoods and food security in the region. In addition, the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries call for the empowerment of fishers in order to develop comprehensive governance based on participation and dialogue.

“Our expectations are that we move steadily towards the provision of evermore accurate and evermore timely scientific advice on small-scale and recreational fisheries, so that we may better consider these sectors in the comprehensive management of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries taking into account the expertise and available information of each organization working in the sector” said Abdellah Srour, GFCM Executive Secretary.

Seizing this momentum, several organizations, including the International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), the FishMPABlue2 project (Fishing governance in MPAs: potentialities for Blue Economy2), the Low Impact fishers of Europe (LIFE) platform, the Mediterranean Advisory Council (MEDAC), the Network of Mediterranean marine protected area managers (MedPAN) and the Word Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), have decided to join forces with the GFCM, in order to identify cooperation opportunities and develop a long-term coordination mechanism.

“There is a real sense of urgency to empower small-scale fishers across the region to shift towards recovered stocks and sustainable practices. This challenge can only be solved through strong and forward-looking partnerships that can work alongside fishers with innovative solutions aimed at improved livelihoods and sustainable economic development” said Giuseppe Di Carlo, Director of WWF's Mediterranean Marine Initiative.

There is no doubt that efforts are underway to consolidate and share existing knowledge, identify synergies among ongoing projects, as well as to set up a mechanism for regular coordination among partner organizations. A follow-up meeting has been proposed to be held in the coming weeks in order to further define a common vision for this mechanism, begin mapping ongoing case studies and concretely determine the next steps.