On 23 September 2016, an assembly of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) concluded with an agreement on the prioritisation of actions, funding and quantifiable goals for the Mediterranean fisheries sustainability strategy.
The Mediterranean Sea is severely overfished. Fisheries management is complicated by the fact that the sea is bounded by over 20 countries – EU as well as non-EU countries- and much of the sea lies outside national jurisdictions. Cooperation is therefore essential, and that happens in various fora including ‘The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean’ (GFCM) under FAO. GFCM has as its main objective to ensure the conservation and the sustainable use, at the biological, social, economic and environmental level, of living marine resources as well as the sustainable development of aquaculture in the Mediterranean and in the Black Sea.
GFCM deals with both commercial and recreational fisheries. EAA is involved with GFCM work via our membership of the Mediterranean Advisory Council, which cooperates with GFCM.
On 23 September 2016, the assembly reached an agreement on a timeframe for the medium-term strategy for the next four years. The objective of the medium-term strategy, adopted in June, is to:
•reverse the downward trend of fish stocks
•improve scientific advice
•support both coastal communities and small-fishing
•ensure a level playing field
•curb illegal fishing
•improve the health of marine ecosystems
•improve fisheries
The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, described the four year timeframe agreed upon for the strategy as “a step in the right direction”.
More information available at:
DG MARE newsroom: http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/mare/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=34942
About the GFCM: www.fao.org/gfcm/background/about/en/
About the Mediterranean Advisory Council, MEDAC: http://en.med-ac.eu/chi_siamo.php