Surveys and research

MedSudMed develops capacities for knowledge-based decision-making and functional fisheries management aligned with the FAO ecosystem approach to fisheries and aquaculture (EAFA), ultimately contributing to enhanced food and nutrition security for people in partner countries.

The Straits of Sicily (south-central Mediterranean) is one of the most important fishing areas in the Mediterranean Sea in which the occurrence of shared stocks calls for coordinated studies and management.

Over a period of over 24 years MedSudMed has substantially improved the monitoring of small-scale and industrial fisheries and the ecosystem, with the participation of all the research institutions of the participating countries.

The Project was instrumental in creating a unique framework in which fishers, farmers, managers and scientists from Libya, Malta, Italy and Tunisia could meet and develop a common vision on fisheries and aquaculture management. This was done by:

• supporting generation of new scientific knowledge on fisheries and aquaculture, fisheries resources and ecosystems for management decision; 
• advancing the ecosystem approach to fisheries and aquaculture by promoting the integration of the human dimension in fisheries and aquaculture management (e.g. multilateral and multi-level discussions) for the identification of broader management strategies; 
• promoting the sharing of data, knowledge and expertise to enhance fisheries management discussion in the FAO regional fisheries management body in the Mediterranean (GFCM); 
• consolidating studies and knowledge for the provision of the scientific advice in support of aquaculture and fisheries management. 

The activities included, among others, the standardisation of methods and procedures in the south-central Mediterranean and studies on: main oceanographic patterns in the south-central Mediterranean; pilot studies describing all dimension of selected national fisheries (Malta); the relationship between the distribution of selected shared fisheries resources, environmental features and fishing characteristics; fisheries and fisheries resources biology, abundance and spatial distribution (~15 surveys at sea); mapping of critical habitats for fisheries target species; compilation of existing information into bibliographical reviews; fisheries economy and social characteristics.