Research programme on European eel: towards coordination of European eel stock management and recovery in the Mediterranean
European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is a migratory species with a unique life cycle. Between their spawning phase and their pre-reproductive stage, European eel migrate from the Northwest Atlantic to the coasts of their distribution range and continental waters.
European eels are declining globally due to a combination of natural causes and anthropogenic pressures impacting it and its habitats at different life stages. Following Recommendation GFCM/42/2018/1 and discussions held at the 2019 GFCM Working Group on the management of European eel (WGMEASURES – EEL) the GFCM implemented an eel research programme in the Mediterranean.
ACTIVITIES
- Identify and evaluate management and protection measures for stock recovery.
- Establish a common framework for long-term monitoring of the European eel in the Mediterranean.
- Collect, collate and update data concerning eel fisheries, eel habitats, biological and ecological features of local eel stocks and eel trade across the Mediterranean region, including in all coastal, transitional and inland waters.
- Establish a common framework for assessing European eel stocks at different scales in the Mediterranean.
- Establish a coordination framework and a national and international network of European eel experts and projects around the Mediterranean for future interactions, involving the transfer of knowledge through capacity-building activities and the revision of the GFCM Data Collection Reference Framework (DCRF) for European eel.
RESOURCES
TEAM
Scientific Partners
- Agricultural University of Tirana, Albania
- Centre national de recherche et de développement de la pêche et de l’aquaculture, Algeria
- National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Egypt
- Université de Perpignan, France
- Hellenic Fisheries Research Institute, Greece
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, Italy
- Universidad de Córdoba, Spain
- Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer, Tunisia
- Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Türkiye
Administration
- Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Albania
- Ministère de l'Agriculture, du Développement Rural et de la Pêche, Algeria
- Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Egypt
- Ministère de l’Agriculture et de l'Alimentation, France
- Hellenic Ministry of Rural Development and Food, Greece
- Ministero delle politiche agricole, alimentari e forestali, Italy
- Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, Spain
- Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Ressources Hydrauliques et de la Pêche, Tunisia
- Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Türkiye
Advisory board
Scientific coordinator
- Argyrios Sapounidis
External scientific experts
- Prof. Reinhold Hanel, Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Thünen Insitute (Germany)
- Prof. Giulio De Leo, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University (USA)
Learn more about the GFCM's research programmes.