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ABSTRACT

The Workshop on discard monitoring programme and exchange of good practices among on-board observers was held at the GFCM headquarters in Rome, in hybrid format, on 1–2 April 2026, bringing together on-board observers, scientific experts, national representatives and stakeholders from both the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. The discussions reaffirmed the key role of the discard monitoring programme in fisheries management, particularly for estimating total fishing mortality and improving stock assessments. Participants highlighted the importance of on-board observer programmes as multi-purpose data collection platforms at sea, capable of supporting integrated activities such as fuel consumption monitoring, fish tagging, biological sampling and the collection of local ecological knowledge from fishers. The need to ensure the continuity and further development of discard monitoring activities across both regions was strongly emphasized. The workshop concluded with a set of agreed recommendations.