EUROFISH Magazine 2/2014

Fish stocks do not respect national boundaries and often occur as straddling or shared stocks between exclusive economic zones, or between these zones and the high seas, or exclusively in the high seas. Conserving and managing these stocks require international cooperation which is often in the form of a regional fishery body. These bodies provide the forum by which parties to an international agreement can work together to manage fish stocks. The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) is one such body responsible for stocks in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Today it is led by Abdellah Srour who discusses here some of the challenges facing stock management in these water bodies.