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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Seminar on GFCM fisheries restricted areas  was held online on 25 March 2022. It was organized by the SAC and the CoC and was attended by 88 participants, including scientific experts and representatives from administrations of Mediterranean and Black Sea countries, as well as representatives of GFCM partner organizations, the FAO and the GFCM Secretariat. The main objectives of the seminar were to identify the challenges and difficulties faced by CPCs in implementing FRAs, share experiences on their management and control, and identify minimum conservation measures as well as MCS standards towards an improved FRA network in view of enhancing the level playing field in the region and improve the effectiveness of FRAs. The experts reviewed the results of the questionnaire on the implementation of FRAs by CPCs and analyzed the examples of different FRAs in the GFCM area of application, including MCS measures and control tools towards more effective compliance. The seminar encouraged progress on the transposition of GFCM recommendations into national legislation but also on regular and consistent legal and scientific monitoring, and agreed on the main elements for the development of the GFCM FRA toolkit.