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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Working Group on Monitoring and Control Measures (WGMCM) was held in Vigo, Spain on 19–22 May 2025. The meeting was attended by 50 experts from GFCM contracting parties and cooperating non-contracting parties (CPCs) and observers. Three sessions were held focusing on: i) illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and control measures; ii) progress in the implementation of GFCM joint inspection schemes (JIS) and the corresponding voluntary exchange of vessel monitoring system (VMS) data; and iii) the reinforcement of the Compliance Committee and the assessment of compliance. The first session included discussions on instruments to strengthen the fight against IUU fishing, the pilot monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) portal and its guidelines, transhipment report, and catch reporting mechanisms for small-scale fisheries (SSF). The second session acknowledged experiences with respect to JIS from partners organizations, and the voluntary exchange of VMS data under Resolution GFCM/47/2024/17. The third session focused on the clarification and identification process, experiences and next steps in the piloting of the compliance inventory tables foreseen by Recommendation GFCM/46/2023/23, the reinforcement of the Compliance Committee, and updates on GFCM-Lex. The WGMCM provided technical elements and expert views on these topics, for the consideration of the eighteenth session of the Compliance Committee (Spain, November 2025) with a view to guiding the development of GFCM monitoring and control measures