General Fisheries Commission For The Mediterranean

In its thirtieth session the Commission reviewed the intersessional activities of its Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and its Committee on Aquaculture (CAQ). Based on the advice emanating from SAC and proposals by Members, the GFCM adopted respectively: three binding recommendations on fisheries management measures, including on fishing effort and on the protection of sensitive habitats; two recommendations on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, including on the establishment of a black list of vessels and on data confidentiality procedure. It also endorsed three recommendations from the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), including on the establishment of a programme for transshipment by large-scale longliners. The GFCM reiterated its satisfaction with progress made in the implementation of the five regional projects executed by FAO in support of the Commission. The Commission ascertained its financial situation and agreed to use arrears to build a Working Capital Fund. In the Secretariat, it established a post of Statistician and a post of Programmer/System Analyst. Work progress related to the new headquarters of the Commission was reviewed. The Commission decided to postpone the adjustments to its Rules of Procedure to its next plenary. The Commission established a Compliance Committee. It formalized the Environment Aquaculture Mediterranean Network (EAM) and the Statistical Information System on Aquaculture (SIPAM) as subsidiary bodies of CAQ, and endorsed the guidelines prepared by the Joint GFCM/ICCAT Working Group on Sustainable Tuna Farming. The Commission agreed on its programme of work and adopted its autonomous budget for the year 2006. The GFCM elected its new Bureau

This report summarizes the discussions held during the forty-sixth session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) and thirteenth session of the Committee on Administration and Finance. [Author] During the session, progress in activities related to fisheries, aquaculture, compliance and other strategic activities was reviewed. [Author] The Commission adopted 24 binding recommendations and ten resolutions related to fisheries management and conservation, aquaculture and compliance. [Author] Finally, the Commission adopted the revised GFCM Financial Regulations as well as its programme of work for the next intersession and approved its autonomous budget for 2024, 2025 and 2026, as well as a number of strategic actions to be funded through extrabudgetary resources. [Author] The Commission also extended the mandate of its current Bureau for two additional years and endorsed the new Bureaus of the Compliance Committee and the Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries. [Author]

This third edition of the State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries provides a comprehensive overview of the status of fisheries in the region, looking at their main features and trends, in order to better inform their management and better examine current and future challenges that they will face in the near future. The aim of this report is to produce a document that could provide useful analysis and direction for decision-making and future action. In this respect, this publication also represents a convenient source of information for the FAO Committee on Fisheries and offers a practical complement to the data provided in the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture published by the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department. This volume includes seven chapters divided into two sections: a first part on the status and trends of different aspects of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries, including fleet, catches, socio-economic variables and bycatch, and a second part that focuses on the management of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries, including an overview on small-scale fisheries. This report is based to a large extent on the most up-to-date data available submitted by GFCM contracting and cooperating non-contracting parties, including information on stock status, national catches, fleet and socio-economic information up to 2018. It is also complemented with information from other sources.

The forty-second session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean as well as the ninth session of the Committee on Administration and Finance was attended by delegates of 22 contracting parties, as well as of four cooperating non-contracting parties and two non-contracting parties. Representatives from 15 intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and its regional projects as well as the Bureaux of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies, were also in attendance. During the session, progress in activities related to fisheries, aquaculture, compliance and other strategic activities was reviewed. Moreover, cooperation activities within the framework of agreements with contracting parties and cooperating non-contracting parties and with partner organizations were discussed. In light of increasing cooperation with the GFCM, the Commission granted cooperating noncontracting party status to Jordan. In relation to the management of fisheries and aquaculture in the GFCM area of application, a total of eleven binding recommendations were adopted, dealing with the following issues: multiannual management plans for European eel, for deep-water red shrimp fisheries in the Levant and Ionian Seas and for demersal fisheries in the Strait of Sicily; conservation of sharks and rays; international joint inspection and surveillance in the Strait of Sicily; regional research programmes on blue crab in the Mediterranean and on rapa whelk fisheries in the Black Sea; further emergency measures for small pelagic stocks in the Adriatic Sea; access to information and data related to monitoring, control and surveillance and regional marking of fishing gear. Futhermore, the Commission agreed to launch its second performance review in 2019 and welcomed the establishment of five subregional technical units in Bulgaria, Croatia, Lebanon, Spain and Tunisia. Finally, the Commission adopted its programme of work for the next intersession and approved its budget amounting to USD2 537 241 for 2019 as well as a number of strategic actions to be funded through extrabudgetary resources. It also unanimously endorsed the new Bureaux of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries, the Working Group on the Black Sea and the Committee on Administration and Finance. Finally, on the occasion of its resumed session held in December 2018, the Commission unanimously elected its new Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons.

This report summarizes the discussions held during the forty-fifth session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean and twelfth session of the Committee on Administration and Finance. During the session, progress in activities related to fisheries, aquaculture, compliance and other strategic activities was reviewed. The Commission adopted 17 binding recommendations and four resolutions related to fisheries management and conservation, aquaculture and compliance. Moreover, the Commission adopted the revised GFCM Rules of Procedure and approved the proposal for the appointment of the new GFCM Executive Secretary. Finally, the Commission adopted its programme of work for the next intersession and approved its autonomous budget for 2023, 2024 and 2025, as well as a number of strategic actions to be funded through extrabudgetary resources. The Commission also endorsed the new Bureau of the Committee on Administration and Finance and extended the mandate of the Bureau of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Aquaculture until 2024.

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (SAC) of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) held its twenty-second session online, from 22 to 25 June 2021. The session was attended by delegates from 19 Mediterranean contracting parties, 11 observers, as well as representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Fisheries Division, the GFCM Secretariat and invited experts. The Committee reviewed the work carried out during the 2019–2021 intersession, including within the framework of the mid-term strategy (2017–2020) towards the sustainability of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries and in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and provided advice on status of priority stocks and ecosystems and on potential management measures addressing key fisheries and vulnerable species in the Mediterranean. In line with the subregional approach, the Committee formulated advice focusing on: i) small pelagic and priority demersal fisheries in the Adriatic Sea; ii) common dolphinfish and blackspot seabream fisheries in the western Mediterranean; iii) small pelagic and bottom trawl fisheries exploiting demersal stocks, particularly European hake, in the central Mediterranean; iv) deep-water red shrimp fisheries in the eastern-central Mediterranean, including their interactions with vulnerable marine ecosystems; and v) round sardinella in the eastern Mediterranean. The Committee also agreed on the technical soundness of three FRA proposals for the Bari Canyon, the Ebro Delta margin and the Palmahim Disturbance, to be submitted to the Commission. At the regional level, the Committee provided advice on the following: i) fishing technology and bycatch, including minimal technical specifications for bottom-trawl nets and the need for targeted pilot projects to investigate possible mitigation measures; ii) data call for the database on sensitive benthic habitats and species and other effective area-based conservation measures for the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems and essential fish habitats; and iii) advances in the adaptation strategy for climate change. Furthermore, the Committee discussed additional work in support of the GFCM, namely the implementation of the Regional Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, dedicated research programmes as well as other activities to enhance fisheries management in the region. Finally, the Committee agreed upon its work plan for 2021–2023.

The GFCM promotes the development, conservation, rational management and best utilization of living marine resources, as well as the sustainable development of aquaculture in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and connecting waters. This report reviews the intersessional activities of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and the Committee on Aquaculture (CAQ) and, on the basis of the results obtained, adopts binding recommendations based on scientific advice for the exploitation of red coral, the mitigation of incidental catches of cetaceans and the conservation of sharks, skates and rays together with a resolution on guidelines for allocated zones for aquaculture. The Commission also endorses the first GFCM Framework Programme for 2013 2018, aimed at enhancing sustainable development and cooperation in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea through a better management of fisheries and aquaculture."

The thirty-first session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) reviewed the intersessional activities of its Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and its Committee on Aquaculture (CAQ) and held the first session of its Compliance Committee. Based on advice from SAC and proposals by Members, the GFCM adopted: three Resolutions, including two related to the GFCM statistical framework and one on the use of the 40 mm square mesh size in the codend of trawlnets. The Commission also adopted binding recommendations on fisheries management, including diamond mesh size of trawlnets and the Pelagos Sanctuary for the conservation of marine mammals, as well as three Recommendations emanating from the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) on bluefin tuna and on transshipment at sea. The GFCM strengthened the mandate of CAQ and adopted a new set up and modus operandi for the subsidiary bodies of the Committee. The Commission decided to strengthen its activities in the Black Sea. It acknowledged the importance of the five regional projects supporting the activities of the Committees and endorsed a series of amendments to its Rules of Procedure. The Commission agreed on its programme of work and adopted its budget for 2007, including the establishment within the Secretariat of a post of Aquaculture specialist.