A pilot project has been launched towards establishing a voluntary observation and inspection programme for the Black Sea by the end of 2019. This follows the recent recommendation by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) for a multi-annual management plan for turbot in the Black Sea.
The project is designed promote compliance and a level playing field, in particular with regard to TACs and quotas, technical measures, closure periods, fishing effort limits and market related measures.
The pilot project starts this year and may continue in 2019. It will be implemented in co-operation between all authorities concerned.
It includes the exchange of best practices for control and inspection of GFCM conservation and management provisions on turbot fisheries in the Black Sea, possible joint control and inspection operations and capacity building, in particular assessment of needs and implementation of trainers/inspection training.
‘This pilot project is the first step in setting the foundations for co-operation on fisheries control in the region. A GFCM observation and control programme for the Black Sea will be very beneficial to guarantee the sustainability of the turbot fisheries in the region,’ said European Fisheries Control Agency executive director Pascal Savouret.
The kick off meeting to launch the pilot project was recently hosted by the European Fisheries Control Agency (ECFA) with representatives from Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, the GFCM Secretariat and the European Commission.
The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) is the RFMO overseeing fisheries in the Black Sea, with a brief to ensure the conservation and the sustainable use, at biological, social, economic and environmental levels, of living marine resources in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, as well as the sustainable development of aquaculture.
