The FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department will hold in Athens, Greece, during the period from 19 to 20 April 2010, the Inception Meeting of the Regional Project “Scientific and Institutional Cooperation to Support Responsible Fisheries in the Eastern Mediterranean (EastMed).

 

The EastMed inception meeting will be attended by representatives and experts from the south-eastern Mediterranean countries, in addition to the FAO staff and donors’ representatives.

 

It aims at (1) presenting the EastMed project to the participating countries including the project structure, organization and management; 2) reviewing the current situation of fisheries research and management in the region and the countries’ expectations and priorities; (3) considering the priority activities to be implemented during the initial phase of the project; and (4) detailing and agreeing on the workplan for the first year of EastMed.

 

This 5-year regional project “Scientific and Institutional Cooperation to Support Responsible Fisheries in the Eastern Mediterranean (EastMed) is executed by FAO and funded by Greece, Italy and the European Commission Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

 

The objectives of this project are to (i) improve management at national and regional levels in order to achieve sustainability in the fisheries of the eastern Mediterranean and, through this, to support national economies and protect the livelihoods of those involved in the Fisheries Sector; (ii) support and improve the capacity of national fishery departments and scientific institutions to increase their information base for fishery management; (iii) assist participating countries in developing and implementing fishery management policies through a multidisciplinary approach, taking into account biological, environmental, socio-economic and institutional factors. The EastMed project is consistent with the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and the associated technical guidelines, and it draws heavily on the principles and standards embodied in these instruments.