The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, convened in Tunis for its 33rd annual session from 23 to 27 March, has adopted a number of recommendations that will mark significant progress toward sustainable fisheries management. Agreement was reached for example on the setting up of a GFCM-regional fishing fleet register and on the use of at least 40 mm square mesh in trawl fisheries – a prerequisite to substantially reduce catches of small fish and other marine organisms from being accidentally caught in the nets. Moreover, the newly introduced obligation to equip all vessels measuring more than 15m overall length with a satellite-based monitoring system is an important step enabling on the one hand to follow fleet developments and monitor fishing activity, and on the other to provide new reliable date for scientific evaluation.
Despite the initial reluctance of some states, a compromise solution was also found to improve protection in an area of the Gulf of Lions, where according to the Scientific Advisory Council (SAC) special attention is needed toward adult specimens of hake. The fishing effort of all demersal fishing activity in this area has been temporarily frozen pending further scientific developments. For another highly problematic issue, the sardines of the Adriatic Sea, SAC was given a mandate to improve the scientific basis so as to better understand the state of small pelagic stocks and fisheries in this sea.
All GFCM members are now required to submit catch statistics as well as biological and economic data on their fisheries and aquaculture activities; this will improve future scientific analysis and create a level-playing field in the provision of scientific advice. An overall reduction by at least 10% of the fishing effort all over the Mediterranean was agreed as well.
If the European Commission was the leading force behind most of the proposals tabled, all members (including non-EU members) took active part in the negotiations. The good results achieved are in fact mainly due to the general spirit of cooperation and constructiveness that animated the debate.
