Review of the Recommendations of the Twenty-sixth Session of GFCM
7. The GFCM Secretary briefly reviewed the main recommendations of GFCM to SAC with reference to Appendix G of the Report of its Twenty-sixth Session (September 2001, Ischia, Italy). He noted that the following issues in the Report of the Twenty-sixth Session of GFCM also called for follow-up action by SAC: Joint EIFAC/GFCM Working Group on Sturgeon; project proposal on Mediterranean fishery statistics and information system (MEDIFSIS); expansion of the work on socio-economic indicators and identification of fleet segmentations; private sector participation in GFCM activities. It was noted that these issues were covered in the Agenda of the Fifth Session of SAC.
Report by the Chairman of SAC
8. Mr J. Camiñas introduced this item on the basis of document GFCM:SAC5/2002/2. He pointed out that the work of SAC and its subsidiaries has been intense during the intersessional period but the meetings continued to be poorly attended by experts from the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions. Equally of concern was the need to strengthen mechanisms to facilitate scientific activity and dissemination of findings to the scientific community as a whole and the limited progress made in organizing a minimum data bank programme at regional level. The Chairman stressed the need to put forward proposals that would enable the Commission to bring about a broader participation by all Members. It was noted that for the first time all Coordinators of the Sub-Committees were present at the Session of SAC.
9. The Chairman recalled that recommendations on management measures needed to encompass all dimensions: biological, socio-economic and environmental. However, he noted the lack of enthusiasm/willingness on the part of member countries in reporting information on national operational units (OUs) while important progress was made by the Sub-Committee on Economics and Social Sciences in identifying segmentation of fleets and related economic parameters.
10. With regard to the work of the Sub-Committee for Stock Assessment, the Chairman of SAC noted that important progress in the evaluation of stocks need to be acknowledged although the number of shared stocks being assessed by the countries remained small. He also reported on attempts being made for reaching a consensus on assessment methods. He further acknowledged the efforts being made by the Sub-Committee on Marine Environment and Ecosystems to collect data on environmental parameters that affect priority species and noted the limited response from the countries worsened by the absence of a related Working Group to facilitate the work.
11. The meetings held during the intersession, as listed in Appendix D were reviewed. The usefulness of organizing a coordination meeting of the Sub-Committees following their parallel annual sessions, as was the case in Barcelona, Spain (May 2002), was emphasized as well as the recommendation that the principle of holding such meetings be formally adopted by the Committee and by the Commission.
12. The Chairman of SAC informed the Committee on action taken with regard to the meeting approved by the Commission on the ecosystem-based management approach which it had not been possible to hold. He further reported on the proposal elaborated by the small focus group established for this purpose. This included, suggesting that: GFCM discuss the Reykjavik Declaration in order to determine the feasibility of applying the approach in the Mediterranean; that, in cooperation with other regional bodies (e.g. the institution of the Barcelona Convention), SAC, particularly its Sub-Committee on Marine Environment and Ecosystems, closely follow and participate in, the work being undertaken by FAO on this issue; and that when internationally agreed technical guidelines and practical improvements are made available on the approach, the Commission envisage testing it.
13. The Secretary of GFCM informed the Committee on recent initiatives to set up a Black Sea Fishery Committee under the aegis of the Black Sea Economic Commission through the support of the newly launched regional project on "Control of eutrophication, hazardous substances and related measures for rehabilitating the Black Sea ecosystem: phase I", funded by the Global Environment Fund (GEF).
14. There was general consensus during the discussion on the need to recommend to GFCM to formally set up the proposed coordinating group of the Sub-Committees.
15. The delegation of the European Community acknowledged the quality and amount of the work carried out so far and paid a special tribute to the Coordinators of the Sub-Committees and to the Chairman of SAC while stressing the importance of strengthening coordination.
16. The Committee recommended that the Coordinators of the Sub-Committees be financed by their member countries to attend SAC as well as GFCM Sessions.
17. With regard to the ecosystem-based management approach, Mr Amor El Abed, Coordinator of the Sub-Committee on Marine Environment and Ecosystems and Ms Tarub Bahri from the MEDSUDMED project reported on a meeting organized by UNEP/RAC/SPA (June 2002, Tunis) on ecosystem approach and on indicators of bio-diversity at which 15 Mediterranean countries participated. They indicated that fishery resources were only a small part of the issues to be discussed. The Committee reiterated the need to pursue collaboration with the institutions of the Barcelona Convention on this issue, and endorsed the strategy suggested by the small focus group established by the Chairman (see paragraph 12 above).
Conclusions and recommendations of the Sub-Committees
18. This Agenda item was introduced on the basis of document GFCM:SAC5/2002/4 summarizing the conclusions and recommendations of the report of each Sub-Committee. In this respect, the need to improve the formulation of recommendations, notably by identifying those recommendations put forward for the concerned Sub-Committee and those addressed to SAC, was stressed. It was further recommended that when raising specific problems, this should be completed by options on how to resolve them.
Sub-Committee on Fisheries Statistics and Information (SCSI)
19. Mr Dino Levi, Coordinator of the Sub-Committee, reiterated the importance of establishing common approaches on data collection in the region and informed the Committee that few countries provided national data on operational units.
20. These countries are: Albania, Croatia, France, Italy, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Slovenia, Spain and Tunisia.
21. He further recalled that the aims of the MEDISFIS project was to empower GFCM with a tool to manage the flow of data and information required for sound fisheries management and establishing common minimum standards for catch and effort data. This would require that countries provide manpower in order for the system to function. A proposal on an updated and simplified version of the project was described. It entailed the integration of the efforts being made by COPEMED, ADRIAMED and MEDSUDMED in support of their respective member countries as well as requirements for financial contributions for concerned countries in addition to possible funding through the FAO Regular Programme such as through the Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP). Three phases were anticipated: development of the system (at country level); consolidation (at country level); and integration (at regional level).
22. In the discussion which followed, the issue of establishing a GFCM homepage on the Internet was raised. It was suggested to use the same approach as for SIPAM, in order to reduce the establishment cost to about US$ 10 000. It was noted that the Sub-Committee for Stock Assessment was satisfactorily using its own FTP page, administered by the Coordinator.
23. The following conclusions and recommendations of the Sub-Committee were endorsed by SAC.
24. The Sub-Committee noted progress achieved with regard to the harmonization of data collection. It stressed the need to ensure sustainability of activities initiated and underlined the role of the other Sub-Committees and of the Secretariat in this respect.
25. With regard to operational units, SCSI stressed the need to build a system that could be flexible, according to users' requirements (at country, regional and international levels).
26. SAC further recommended the following:
an inventory of all databases in the various systems (e.g.: COPEMED; ADRIAMED, ITAFISH, etc.) should be carried out and those that can be maintained by the GFCM Secretariat (e.g.: on research and development) should be progressively transferred to it;
the validity of each available information system should be assessed and SCSI should interact more closely with the other Sub-Committees in this respect. It recommended in particular that a joint Working Group on Operational Units be established between SCSI and SCESS;
new applications envisaged should follow common standards agreed by SCSI and should foresee Members' requirements;
a list of stocks and fisheries monitored under the GFCM mandate should be established with a view to facilitating a possible agreement between FIGIS and GFCM.
Sub-Committee on Economic and Social Sciences (SCESS)
27. Mr I. Malouli, Coordinator of the Sub-Committee, presented the results of the meeting of the Working Group on Socio-Economic Indicators (Salerno, Italy, 11-13 March 2002) and the conclusions and recommendations laid down in the report of the annual session of the Sub-Committee.
28. Complementary information was provided to SAC by Mr Ramon Franquesa and Mr Vincenzo Placenti, respectively on the process and methodology being used to arrive at identifying thirteen segments of fleet applicable for the whole Mediterranean which are compatible with other classifications attempted by AER, the EC and IREPA for Italy, as well as on the related manual on sampling methodology being drafted by the Sub-Committee to facilitate implementation by all GFCM countries.
29. In the discussion which followed, several delegations commended the work carried out by the Sub-Committee. The extension of the work on economic and social indicators to the Alboran Sea, the Gulf of Gabès, the Adriatic Sea, the Tyrrhenian Sea and the French Mediterranean was noted.
30. The following conclusions and recommendations of the Sub-Committee were endorsed by SAC:
31. Among its main conclusions, the Sub-Committee stressed the need to further specify the characteristics of operational units, in particular through defining its spatial dimension in relation to the concept of Local Operational Units (LOUs). The Sub-Committee identified 13 fleet segments mainly based on "métiers" and vessel length, taking into consideration European Commission and other institutional requirements in this respect. It noted that the combination of LOUs and the vessel segmentation would constitute the basis for analysis aimed at monitoring fleet capacity.
32. SAC recommended to GFCM the following:
To adopt for the Mediterranean the fleet segmentation being identified (Appendix E).
To adopt for the Mediterranean the list of basic economic and social indicators (Appendix F).
To extend to all GFCM geographical areas the methodology for indicators agreed upon by the Sub-Committee and taking into consideration the segmentation of the Mediterranean fleets.
Member countries should collect (as an annual routine), the basic data necessary for building-up the set of Mediterranean economic and social indicators identified.
To organize a third meeting of the Working Group on indicators in 2003.
33. SAC further requested the Sub-Committee:
To undertake pilot studies to further define the concept of local operational units (LOUs);
To add the following social indicators: weighted average age; number of years of active fishing; capital share; education; household structure, social background and experience, to the existing list of basic indicators.
To finalize the manual on sampling techniques (covering the Neyman and Bethel methods) for the collection of economic and social data.
To pursue the work on the glossary through the network of social scientists, by e-mail as a first step, and through a meeting to update outputs, as a second step, to be organized during the Sub-Committees meeting.
That social scientists collect and forward to the Coordinator the required information on regional and national projects and activities related to fishery social sciences in the Mediterranean as well as the bibliographical references taking into account the agreed standard format.
That the studies on legal aspects of fisheries management respectively undertaken by COPEMED and ADRIAMED regional projects be presented to SAC.
Sub-Committee on Marine Environment and Ecosystems (SCMEE)
34. Mr Amor El Abed, Coordinator of the Sub-Committee reported on the work carried out during the intersession. He noted that in view of the recent establishment of the Sub-Committee, notable progress was being made mobilizing scientists, although in-depth analysis was difficult in the absence of proper working groups for this Sub-Committee.
35. However, the Coordinator expressed his concern for the poor replies received in response to the questionnaires which were sent to almost all scientists of GFCM and urged countries and regional projects to support this initiative.
36. In the discussion which followed, caution was called for to avoid duplication with the work carried out by CITES and the Institutions of the Barcelona Convention on shark species. The observer from ICCAT informed the Committee that his organization was planning to undertake a number of assessments of shark stocks with emphasis being initially placed on the Atlantic Ocean. The Committee agreed that closer liaison and cooperation should be established with sister organizations dealing with sharks in the Mediterranean, particularly with the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) networks.
37. It was however recalled that the GFCM request was primarily directed at managing migratory shark stocks with emphasis being placed on discard and incidental catch issues and not only on the protection of sharks. Quantitative information therefore needed to be collected and analysed.
38. The Chairperson of SAC suggested that whenever the establishment of two working groups was recommended this should be accompanied with proper terms of reference as well as the identification of responsible and key participants in such groups.
39. The following recommendations of the Sub-Committee were endorsed by SAC:
To launch national action plans on migratory shark monitoring.
To coordinate their national and regional research programmes with the recommendations of the Sub-Committee on Environment and Marine Ecosystems, of SAC and of GFCM.
To establish two working groups, respectively on anthropogenic effects and fishing technology and on ecology and environment.
To hold a meeting of experts on environment and marine ecosystems in order to finalize the Glossary during the next Sub-Committees meeting.
To improve the awareness on the part of Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea countries of the problem of environment and marine ecosystems in order to encourage more specialists to attend the Sub-Committee meetings.
To invite research Institutes to make every efforts to help filling in the forms on environment parameters.
Sub-Committee for Stock Assessment (SCSA)
40. The report of the Sub-Committee for Stock Assessment was presented by the Coordinator, Mr J. Lleonart. The Committee was informed that the Sub-Committee endorsed the recommendations of the GFCM/ICCAT Working Group (Paragraph 43) on large pelagic species. The Committee also noted that the following assessments were endorsed by the Sub-Committee: eight demersal (one shared), corresponding to six GFCM geographical sub-areas and five species and eleven small pelagic evaluation (two shared), corresponding to seven geographical sub-areas and two species.
Large Pelagic Species
41. The Committee reviewed the recommendations made by the Sixth Session of GFCM-ICCAT Working Group on stocks of large pelagic species in the Mediterranean (Malta, 15-19 April 2002) and decided that these should not only be endorsed by SAC, but also reproduced in the report of SAC, as amended if necessary.
42. The following are the conclusions and recommendations endorsed by SAC:
GFCM Members should provide sufficient financial resources for research on stocks of large pelagic species. Besides routine monitoring of fisheries and the recommendations listed below, this would allow: (a) comparative studies on the maturity of swordfish between the eastern and western Mediterranean; (b) improvement of reporting rates of tag recoveries (e.g., by raising awareness about tagging programmes); and, (c) stepped-up efforts to collect fishery-independent data on bluefin abundance via larval and aerial surveys.
In order to standardize data with regard to the various gears encompassed by the "drift net" category, detailed catch and operational information about these fisheries should be submitted to ICCAT.
As part of the legal requirements for permitting farming operations, member countries should collect data on bluefin farming (inputs and outputs to fattening operations) and transmit them to ICCAT and GFCM.
Shark species Prionace glauca, Lamna nasus and Isurus oxyrinchus should be added to the GFCM list of priority species and shared stocks. Data collected on these species by GFCM Members should be transmitted to ICCAT as well.
Countries interested in Coryphaena hippurus should collaborate to carry out an assessment of this stock and present it to the next GFCM/ICCAT Group for validation. This species should also be included in the list of shared stocks.
Countries that have any historical or recent data on Mediterranean swordfish that are not part of the ICCAT database should transmit the data to ICCAT.
43. The collection of bluefin tunas and their rearing in floating cages is generally referred to as 'tuna farming' (see paragraph 77). This practice is very rapidly spreading in the Mediterranean due to the economic gains that have lead the private sector to invest into this relatively new culture system. This is reflected by the increased number of cage units established throughout the Mediterranean and new licence applications being submitted to the relevant national authorities. From 1996 to 2001, there was at least a 20-fold increase in the number of cages in the Mediterranean. Most of the farms keep the fish in cages for a short period (2-6 months) to increase the fat content of the flesh, which strongly influences the prizes of the tuna meat on the Japanese sashimi market.
44. The Committee noted that the development of tuna farming has generated several problems that make the assessment and management of the bluefin stock more difficult. These problems are difficult to address in view of the rapidly evolving nature of this industry in the Mediterranean region.
45. After discussing the issue of tuna farming practices, SAC recommended to establish an Ad Hoc Working Group to develop Technical Guidelines on Sustainable Tuna Farming/Fattening Practices in the Mediterranean. The Working Group should comprise scientists with expertise covering the areas listed in the draft terms of reference of the Group, which are attached as Appendix G. The Group should further be coordinated between SAC, the GFCM Committee on Aquaculture and the ICCAT Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS).
46. With regard to demersal and small pelagic species, the following are the conclusions and recommendations endorsed by the Committee.
Demersal Species
General Considerations on Demersal Species
47. Some of the assessments showed an evident situation of growth overfishing. Ways to recover a stock from this condition are to reduce effort or improve the selectivity or both. Furthermore there are several ways to implement any recovering action: at once or over a longer period, using different reference points. Any action to recover a fishery will produce short-term losses, and long-term gains. The importance of these losses depends on levels of action, i.e. a small decrease in effort will produce a moderate short term crisis and moderate long-term gain, and vice versa. For that reason the figure to be quoted will depend upon the management choice. The full conclusions and recommendations of SCSA are reproduced in Appendix H. They have been endorsed by SAC as follows.
Merluccius merluccius
Geographical Sub-Area 9 Ligurian and northern Tyrrhenian
48. The current level of the spawning stock being very low, a reduction of at least 15% of the fishing effort on multiannual basis is recommended. This measure can be complemented with the protection of nursery areas.
Geographical Sub-Area 7, Gulf of Lions
49. Growth overfishing has been detected and recruitment overfishing is suspected. It is therefore recommended to avoid recruitment overfishing through reducing the effort of longline and gillnets. To reduce growth overfishing, improving trawl selectivity appeared to be the most appropriate management measure and the length at first capture is recommended to be enforced at 20 cm TL. Moreover, a reduction of fishing effort of 20% is recommended. It should be noted, however, that this reduction is still far from the biological optima of the stock.
SAMED area (GFCM Geographical Sub-Areas 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, and 23)
50. Since a growth overfishing can be assumed, it is recommended to implement temporary closure of the identified hake nursery areas. Trawling effort limitation in space and time could further be useful for the hake and the other species of the fishing assemblages.
Nephrops norvegicus
Geographical Sub-Area 9 Ligurian and northern Tyrrhenian
51. No over exploitation was detected. No management advice has been suggested.
SAMED area
52. Slight overexploitation to full exploitation has been identified. Technical improvement of the gear to avoid the capture of small-sized Norway lobster and reduce the impact of otter trawl doors on the bottom and the "scrapping" capability of the gear was recommended.
Aristeomorpha foliacea
Geographical Sub-Area 11 Sardinia
53. No over-exploitation was detected. No management advice has been suggested.
Aristeus antennatus
Geographical Sub-Area 1,5 and 6, Northern Alboran Sea, Balearic Island and Northern Spain
54. The stock is overfished. Since the analysis of the two genders was done separately, it was recommended that the optimum effort should be half of the current fishing effort on females and three quarters of the current fishing effort on males. In any case, a reduction of effort should be applied on the overall stock irrespective of sex.
Mullus barbatus
55. This species is intensely fished. The main concern is the exploitation of very small individuals during the recruitment season (late summer and early autumn), therefore most of the management measures to be taken should aim at avoiding the catch of juveniles.
Geographical Sub-Area 9 Ligurian and northern Tyrrhenian
56. The stock is fully or over-exploited depending on fishing grounds. Management measures which are recommended include: spatial and temporary closures, effort limitation, a minimum landing size, gear modifications, quotas and market restrictions as well as an adequate enforcement of current trawl ban within the 3 miles, at depth smaller than 50 meters.
SAMED area
57. The stocks are fully or intensively exploited. It was recommended to strengthen the protection of the shallow waters, where the recruitment occurs, throughout the year. Temporary closure of the fishery was also recommended.
Small Pelagic Species
General considerations on small pelagics species
58. With regard to small pelagic species, it was noted that abundance is heavily dependent on recruitment and stock biomass shows high inter-annual variability. In the fisheries exploiting stocks of anchovies or other small pelagic species, for which the most recent scientific analyses (assessments, DEPM, surveys) showed an evident risk of recruitment overfishing, it is advisable to avoid the catch of fish smaller than their first maturity size. It would be also advisable that biomass estimations be made on a yearly basis in all GFCM geographical sub-areas, and scientific advice should be given in good time to allow managers to adapt in real time the exploitation to the biological condition of the resources. The full conclusions and recommendations of SCSA are reproduced in Appendix H. They have been endorsed by SAC as follows.
Engraulis encrasicolus
Geographical Sub-Area 1. Northern Alboran sea
59. Although the biomass is increasing, effort should not to be increased.
Geographical Sub-Area 6, Northern Spain
60. Although the biomass is increasing, effort should not to be increased.
Geographical Sub-Area 7-6, Gulf of Lions and North Catalonia
61. Despite the high level of biomass, effort should not to be increased.
Geographical Sub-Area 17 Northern Adriatic
62. Strong biomass fluctuations have been registered. Effort should not to be increased.
Geographical Sub-Area 22 Aegean Sea
63. No proposals were made.
Sardina pilchardus
Geographical Sub-Area 1. Northern Alboran Sea
64. The stock status is unknown. No proposals were made.
Geographical Sub-Area 6, Northern Spain
65. The biomass is fluctuating. Effort should not to be increased.
Geographical Sub-Area 3 Southern Alboran Sea
66. Despite the fact that the biomass is fluctuating, no management advice were proposed.
Geographical Sub-Area 17 Northern Adriatic
67. The biomass is fluctuating. It was recommended to monitor closely sardine discards at sea and to develop market strategies to increase the human consumption of sardine and discourage discarding at sea.
Geographical Sub-Area 20+22 Eastern Ionian Sea and Aegean Sea
68. No management proposals were made.
