The Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI) which is based in Cairo at the FAO Regional Office for the Near East, will hold a workshop on Fishery Stock Indicators and Stock Status Reporting in Teheran, Islamic Republic of Iran, during the period from 26 to 29 July 2009. 

The workshop will be attended by experts from the eight RECOFI member countries who are engaged in fisheries stock assessment and management (Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), in addition to the FAO Secretariat of the Commission. 

The workshop is a follow-up of the Fifth Session of RECOFI that was held in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, in May 2009 during which the Commission assigned the highest priority to the appraisal of the state of fishery stocks in the region. 

The objectives of the workshop are to: (i) review the current scientific knowledge on the biology of the most important fishery resources, including the socio-economics information on the fishing activity in the region; (ii) assess the status of fishery exploitation of the main fish stocks in the RECOFI region; (iii) identify fisheries management needs that require immediate actions and improved fishery monitoring in the region; (iv) formulate scientific advice on fisheries management strategies and measures; (v) identify major gaps in knowledge and information, priority areas for regional cooperation; (vi) and formulate the RECOFI work programme for regional cooperation in fish stock assessment and fishery status appraisal. 

The expected results the workshop are the improved and up-to-date understanding of the status of major fisheries and exploited fish resources, the scientific advice on fisheries management, the identification of the regional priorities and formulation of the action plan, and the integrated regional knowledge base for the purpose of fish stock assessment and fishery management in the Region. 

RECOFI was established in 1999 to promote the development, conservation, rational management and best utilization of living marine resources as well as the sustainable development of aquaculture in the region (http://www.fao.org/fishery/rfb/recofi/en).