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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Working Group on the management of European eel (WGMEASURES-EEL) was held online on 23–25 February 2022. It was attended by 73 participants, including scientific experts and representatives from the administrations of Mediterranean and Black Sea riparian states (i.e. Albania, Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey) as well as representatives of the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission (DG MARE), the International Convention for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), the Mediterranean Advisory Council (MEDAC), MedReAct, the Fisheries Secretariat, the Zoological Society of London, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Secretariat of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM). The main objectives of the meeting were to address the requests of Recommendation GFCM/42/2018/1 on a multiannual management plan for European eel (Anguilla anguilla) in the Mediterranean and provide the Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (SAC) with elements for the management of European eel in the Mediterranean Sea based on the results of the recently concluded research programme on European eel in the Mediterranean. The experts thus reviewed relevant outcomes of the research programme as well as other perspectives and discussed and agreed on a toolbox of potential management measures that could be proposed to the SAC towards a possible revision of the current transitional measures in place and a future long-term management plan. The WGMEASURES-EEL also agreed on a work plan for 2022–2023.