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GENERAL FISHERIES COMMISSION FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN

Report of the First Session of the
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Rome, Italy, 23-26 March 1999

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Rome, 1999

PREPARATION OF THIS DOCUMENT

This is the final report approved by the participants of the first session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean Scientific Advisory Committee, held in Rome, Italy, from 23 to 26 March 1999. Distribution: Participants GFCM mailing list FAO Regional and Sub-Regional Fisheries Officers

FAO General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. Report of the first session of the Scientific Advisory Committee. Rome, Italy, 23-26 March 1999. FAO Fisheries Report. No. 601. Rome, FAO. 1999. 52p. ABSTRACT The first session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) met in Rome, Italy, from 23 to 26 March 1999. The Committee agreed that a harmonized approach is necessary for deciding on management units. Concerning the definition of parameters to express fishing efforts, the Committee decided to set up an ad hoc working group to discuss this issue. The Committee reviewed the current situation and available information on stock assessment and recognized the necessity of developing a capacity to adapt some assessment methods to the Mediterranean context. The Committee agreed on its structure and functioning and elected its Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson for the two consecutive intersessional periods.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OPENING OF THE SESSION

ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE SESSION

DEFINITION OF THE APPROPRIATE MANAGEMENT UNITS FOR MEDITERRANEAN FISHERIES

DEFINITION OF THE PARAMETERS TO EXPRESS FISHING EFFORT

IDENTIFICATION OF THE CURRENT SITUATION AND AVAILABLE INFORMATION ON STOCK ASSESSMENT

ORGANIZATION OF FUTURE WORK: STURCTURE, DATA BASES AND FUNCTIONING

ELECTION OF THE BUREAU

ANY OTHER MATTERS

DATE AND PLACE OF THE SECOND SESSION

ADOPTION OF THE REPORT

Appendix A: Agenda

Appendix B: List of Participants

Appendix C: List of Documents

Appendix D: Draft Document for Discussion on a Partition of the GFCM Area into Fishery Management Units

Appendix E: Draft Document for Discussion on Fishing Effort Parameters

Appendix F: Draft Proposal for Terms of Reference of Subsidiary Bodies of the Scientific Advisory Committee

Appendix G: Document for Discussion on Terms of Reference of a Sub-Committee for Marine Environment and Ecosystems

Appendix H: Research Surveys by Country - Inventory by GFCM/SAC

OPENING OF THE SESSION

1. The First Session of the GFCM Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) was held in FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy, from 23 to 26 March 1999.

2. The Session was attended by delegates from 19 members of the Commission, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and by observers from the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, Greenpeace International, the International Commission for the Scientific Exploration of the Mediterranean Sea and the World Wide Fund for Nature. The list of delegates and observers is given in Appendix B to this report.

3. The Session was called to order by Ambassador F. Montanaro Mifsud, Chairman of GFCM. The floor was given to Mr. Serge Garcia, acting for the Assistant Director-General of the Fisheries Department of FAO, who welcomed the delegates and underlined that the setting up of the Scientific Advisory Committee of GFCM was an important act in the process of restructuring GFCM. He reminded the Committee that the most important of the terms of reference of the Committee was to provide scientific advice to the Commission based on the best existing knowledge of Mediterranean fisheries as a basis for recommendations in the management of the fisheries in the area.

4. Mr Garcia stressed the necessity for the members of GFCM to designate highly competent scientists to represent them in the Committee and to give these scientists a sufficiently long mandate to allow them not only to follow the issues that were of interest to the Committee but also to provide the Committee with adequate knowledge and expertise. Mr. Garcia also mentioned that for any fisheries management to be sustainable it should take into consideration the social dimension of the fishing community. A purely scientific approach to fisheries management did not have any chance of success unless it was accepted by all stakeholders. A balance between the scientific requirements for the conservation of the stocks and the socio-economic conditions prevailing in the areas concerned was the best guarantee for sustainable management of the fishery sector.

5. The identification of priorities in marine research and the coordination of this research among the institutes concerned was also considered by Mr. Garcia to be a prerequisite for the availability of comparable and reliable information to enable the Committee to formulate valid recommendations.

ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE SESSION

6. The Committee agreed to postpone the discussion of item 3 (Election of Officers) until after item 8 in order to allow consultation among countries about the candidature of the Chairman of the Committee. The Agenda of the Session is attached as Appendix A. The Committee invited the Chairman of the Commission, Mr. F. Montanaro Mifsud, to chair this first session of SAC until the election of the bureau. The Committee elected Mr. A. Berraho from Morocco as Vice-Chairman and Mr. H. Farrugio from France as Rapporteur of the Session.

7. The list of documents before the Committee is given in Appendix C.

DEFINITION OF THE APPROPRIATE MANAGEMENT UNITS FOR MEDITERRANEAN FISHERIES

8. The Committee agreed that for the future work of SAC, the definition of the management units was of primary importance. Until now, the statistical divisions of GFCM had been used as management units in seeking to provide diagnoses on the status of the resources. However, it was difficult to say that these divisions always corresponded to what could be called stock units although, in general, the first paper in Studies and Reviews 70 suggested that GFCM sub-areas seemed to correspond relatively well to fish communities, and hence might be acceptable for a global approach to estimating the exploitation level of the multispecies demersal resources.

9. The Committee noted that the actual statistical areas could be used to represent boundaries for some multispecies demersal stocks, but there was probably a certain degree of stock mixing and possibly some genetic diffusion along narrow shelf areas. With certain exceptions, the shelf and slope habitat of the exploitable demersal populations was narrow, and compressed between the littoral zone of the coastal States and the deep or abyssal waters of the Mediterranean, which average some 2000-3000m in depth. This effectively separates the stocks of facing shelves, both for demersal and for most small pelagic stocks. From the point of view of management jurisdiction, the Mediterranean shelf areas should be divided into two categories when deciding on a management framework for these resources as discussed in paragraph 10.

10.The Committee noted that many of large pelagic fishes (e.g. bluefin tuna and swordfish) are highly migratory species and most likely management of these species should be considered for the entire Mediterranean Sea and on multi-national basis.

11.The living resources of extensive international shelf areas fell into the category of straddling stocks discussed in New York by the Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. The Committee agreed that it was not in a position to list all the stocks that needed to be managed by several countries, but for several stocks there was already evidence that this would be necessary (e.g. hake). In such cases, it was suggested that some technical measures (e.g. minimum mesh sizes) ideally should be harmonized regionally where exploitation characteristics could affect a shared multinational resource. For small pelagics, the Committee noted that their distribution was dependent on oceanographic conditions and evidence suggested that such oceanographic features as fronts and upwellings were small-scale and relatively stable from year to year. The Committee agreed that in such cases the management and research problem should be faced in a cooperative fashion.

12.The Committee was informed that the life history of most Mediterranean demersal fish populations did not occur across extensive shelf areas, but where it did (e.g. Adriatic, Gulf of Lions, Gulf of Gabes), these could be considered as management units. It was further remarked that it was apparent that a particular management framework is needed for the national fringing shelves that separated them, and that resource management policy was a matter that fell entirely under national jurisdiction, but did not exclude countries asking GFCM for advice in their management.

13.The Committee agreed that a harmonized approach is necessary for deciding on management units in situations where the key demersal resources were straddling stocks lying across the boundaries between national jurisdiction and international waters.

14.With respect to the inventory of the fleets initiated three years ago, the Committee observed that progress left much to be desired for most of the coastal countries. The statistics, although important for management, control and surveillance, did not describe well the structure and capacity of the fleets for effort control. Particularly as regards the small-scale fleets, data available to national administrations were generally incomplete. An underestimation of about 50% compared to the real figure of fleet size was not unusual and, of course, this could introduce important biases into the analyses. To clarify these issues and in an attempt to agree on a common definition of management units, the Committee decided to set up an ad hoc Working Group to discuss this item of the agenda further. The report of the Working Group is attached as Appendix D.

DEFINITION OF THE PARAMETERS TO EXPRESS FISHING EFFORT

15.This agenda item was discussed on the basis of document GFCM:SAC/99/2. The Secretariat gave a brief historical background of the methods used for the evaluation of stocks in the Mediterranean. It was noted that, as methods based on quota control had not been considered practical to implement for most resources, and as options for fishing effort assessment and management, GFCM had relied mainly on the possible control of fleet capacity and fishing effort.

16.The Committee was informed that the control of fleet capacity through licensing systems was revealed to be largely insufficient. This approach had not prevented an increase in fishing capacity of about 6% per year over recent decades. The necessity for a standard categorization of the fishing fleet and the integration of several factors such as fishing unit characteristics and the type of engines used by each category was believed to be necessary for an approach to the management of the fishing effort.

17.The discussion on this item concentrated on the identification of the fleet categories that should be considered for the control of fishing capacity. The Committee was unanimous in considering that such a control should cover not only boats of a length superior to 15 metres but also small-scale fishing units.

18.The Committee stressed the need for each country to provide the Secretariat with a comprehensive inventory of national fleets as decided by the Commission in its Resolution 95/4. The inventory of the national fishing fleets was considered by the Committee to be a prerequisite for a serious and reliable inventory of fishing capacity. The Committee observed that the low degree of detail required by the Resolution should not contradict with the principle of confidentiality that some Members might wish to adhere to.

19.Several delegations underlined, however, the need for further clarification on the notion of capacity and particularly the methods used to measure this for Mediterranean fleets. It was stressed that this might require a common definition of parameters such as the power of engines, real time of fishing, fishing grounds, etc. To this effect, the attention of the Committee was drawn to the conclusions of the Second Session of the GFCM Working Party on Fisheries Economics and Statistics (Rome, March 1998), which reviewed the issues concerning the identification of socio-economic indicators in view of management. The Committee was also informed that during the same Session, it had been agreed that the FAO Statistics questionnaire, STATLANT, should be revised. The Committee noted with appreciation the effort carried out recently by the regional project COPEMED to address such issues and particularly the problem of artisanal fleets.

20.Considering the complexity of the issue, the Committee decided to set up an ad hoc working group to discuss this issue and to provide the Plenary with its view and particularly to discuss parameters allowing the identification of the fishing effort. The Committee agreed that the terms of reference identified by the Working Group should not be considered definitive and needed to be elaborated and finalized during the next session of SAC and presented for review and decision by the Twenty-fourth session of GFCM. The report of this second Working Group is attached in Appendix E.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE CURRENT SITUATION AND AVAILABLE INFORMATION ON STOCK ASSESSMENT

21.The Committee was informed that periodic updatings of research activities dealing mainly with demersal and small pelagic Mediterranean living resources and fisheries have been carried out by GFCM since 1970.

22.It was pointed out that in the last few years, a great deal of effort had been expended in the field of yield/per recruit modelling and in the application of shortcut methods. These had allowed the evaluation of many biological parameters such as rates of growth and mortality for a large number of species, and these data are currently assembled in the POPDYN data bases for Mediterranean and Black Sea resources, which are available from the Secretariat.

23.The Committee observed that Mediterranean scientists have also shown increasing activity in population dynamics modelling and in direct abundance evaluation by acoustic (for small pelagics) or demersal surveys.

24.The Committee noted that an evolution could be noted in the general production statistics of the Mediterranean fisheries, and that the overall level of fishery production of the Mediterranean seemed to be increasing perhaps more than could be deduced from the official statistics. The Secretariat informed the Committee that available data showed that the overall level of fishery production of the Mediterranean had increased by about 50% from 1977 to the present. This increase might in part be due to some corrections to catch statistics; but it also could be due to a movement away from the original oligotrophic condition of the Mediterranean to a more mesotrophic and productive condition. In some areas anthropogenic eutrophication has contributed to increases in the primary production and consequently to increase the benthonic and demersal biomass via the trophic chain. In other areas such as the Black Sea, this process had led to declines of shelf production due to the hypoxic conditions resulting from excess phytoplancton production.

25.The Committee noted the durability of some fisheries which were essentially based on targeted catches of juveniles of some species. It felt that this situation was compatible with the maintenance of relatively good recruitment despite low levels of spawning stock biomasses. It was suggested that a small proportion of the mature adult population of some species seemed to be spared from fishing activities because they were suspected of living within local � refugia � away from the traditional fishing areas, at least during a large part of the year. This may have protected a small proportion of the spawning stocks. This hypothesis was suggested as worthy of future consideration by the Committee.

26.The Committee was informed that, based on some preliminary assessment results, a fishery aimed particularly at small fish might be sustainable if a small -but sufficient proportion of spawners could survive. This suggested that, in addition to the yield-per-recruit analyses (that have been the basis of mesh size regulations in the past), considerations related more to the stock size of mature fish left in the populations should be incorporated into future stock assessments.

27.The Committee noted that for many years there had been a trend towards the elaboration of Mediterranean common databases which could constitute reliable working tools for the assessement and management of the fisheries. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) was managing an international database on tuna fisheries which was regularly updated. FAO had also developed common databases on biological information and on population dynamics parameters and management measures. The Committee was informed that an international database, based on experimental trawl surveys at sea, was being developed for regional studies on abundance and behaviour of fish populations.

28.The Committee stressed that the use of GIS methodologies directed at fisheries resources management could also be considered a promising objective for the future and that in several Mediterranean countries, experimental projects were in progress at a national or international level. It observed that the widening of these techniques might favour the setting up of new common tools, allowing an overall synoptic and geographical vision of the fisheries system and a regular updating of the information, producing easy-to-use results for the management bodies.

29.The Committee recognized the necessity of developing a capacity to adapt some assessement methods to the Mediterranean context. It stressed that, in practice, it would be helpful to develop common standardized methodologies for the fisheries data processing and assessment techniques, in order to obtain homogeneous elements for comparison of the status of the stocks and of the fisheries. The Committee agreed that this should be the main objective of a working group to be created within the sub-comittee for assessment of SAC.

30.The Committee recognized the usefulness of listing the research surveys carried out by Members and invited the participants to provide the Secretariat with the list if immediately available or to send it to the Secretariat later. A list of available surveys is attached as Appendix H.

ORGANIZATION OF FUTURE WORK: STRUCTURE, DATA BASES AND FUNCTIONING

31.This agenda item was introducted by the Secretariat on the basis of document GFCM:SAC/99/3. It contained suggestions concerning the structure and functioning of the Scientific Advisory Committee based on the views of the Twenty-third Session of the Commission.

32.Document GFCM:SAC/99/3 suggested that the Scientific Advisory Committee be assisted in carrying out its mandate by three Sub-Committees (i) a Sub-Committee on Stock Assessment; (ii) a Sub-Committee on Fishery Statistics and Information; and (iii) a Sub-Committee for Economic and Social Sciences. The document also proposed that these Sub-Committees should rely on the work of ad hoc working groups on specific matters related to issues of concern to each of the Sub-Committees.

33.The Committee agreed to set up a Sub-Committee to deal with matters related to the marine environment (Sub-Committee for Marine Environment and Ecosystems). One delegation expressed reservations concerning the setting-up of a sub-committee on environment, considering that such a sub-committee would not facilitate effectively the work of SAC and suggested that, in order to simplify the structure and not overload it with additional subsidiary bodies, the responsibilities of this new Sub-Committee be distributed among the other sub-committees as appropriate. A first draft proposal of the terms of reference of this new sub-committee is attached in Appendix G.

34.Several delegations and observers put emphasis on the need to strengthen cooperation between the Scientific Advisory Committee and other regional Mediterranean bodies concerned with the environment and living resources.

35.In this respect, the Committee noted that the already existing ad hoc joint Working Group GFCM/ICCAT on Large Pelagic Fishes had achieved much progress in research and emphasized the need for the continuation of the work of this Working Group. The observer from ICCAT expressed the willingness of his Organization to continue collaboration with GFCM.

36.The Committee believed that the role of the ad hoc working groups would be of high importance to the Scientific Advisory Committee itself. The Committee was in agreement that the Scientific Advisory Committee and its subsidiary bodies should adopt a problem-solving approach and therefore have a flexible structure at the level of the ad hoc working groups. The Committee recommended that some links be established between the Sub-Committees in order to avoid duplication of work. Joint activities between ad hoc working groups should also be envisaged. The Committee agreed that ad hoc working groups should report to the relevant Sub-Committee of competence. Under some circumstances, and according to the nature of the information required, the ad hoc working groups might report direct to the Scientific Advisory Committee.

37.The Secretariat drew the attention of the Committee to the financial implications that the new structure might involve and noted that, unless extra-budgetary funds were made available to the Commission, the implementation of the programme of work of the Scientific Advisory Committee would face constraints. The Committee, while recognizing such constraints, recommended that the Second Session of SAC be held in June 1999.

38.The Committee recognized the necessity to nominate scientists to be in charge of the coordination of the work of each Sub-Committee. The Committee convened a small group to draft terms of reference for the four Sub-Committees. Terms of reference of both a general and specific character were prepared by the group and are attached as Appendix F. It is suggested that the first meeting of the Sub-Committees should concentrate mainly on exploiting existing information relevant to their future work.

39.The Committee noted that these terms of reference were provisional and subject to review at the Second Session of the Scientific Advisory Committee.

ELECTION OF THE BUREAU

40.A delegate from France proposed Mr. Juan Antonio Camiñas (Spain) as Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee, who was unanimously elected by the Committee. Mr. Abdellatif Berraho (Morocco) and Mr. Jean Marin (France) were respectively elected First and Second Vice-Chairmen of the Scientific Advisory Committee. Mr. Jordi Lleonart (Spain) was designated as temporary coordinator for the Sub-Committee on Stock Assessment for the forthcoming inter-sessional period.

ANY OTHER MATTERS

41.The Coordinator of COPEMED, Rafael Robles, was invited to present to the Committee a report on the activities of his project. A programme for the next period was also described. The Committee acknowledged the usefulness of the work of COPEMED in support of the mandate of the Scientific Advisory Committee.

42.A presentation of FIGIS (Fisheries Global Information System) objectives was also made. The Committee recognized that this programme might also constitute additional support to its activities. It was suggested that some interface be developed between the Sub-Committee on Statistics and Information and FIGIS.

43.The representative of UNEP/Mediterranean Action Plan informed the meeting that his organization gave high importance to the coordination with GFCM and mentioned issues in which a close cooperation with his organization and GFCM was necessary.

44.The representative of Monaco informed the Committee on the objectives of ACCOBAMS (Monaco Agreement on the Conservation of the Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area) and expressed the wish to see close cooperation developed with GFCM, particularly on issues related to the conservation of marine mammals.

45.Delegates from Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey expressed their intention to submit to the next Session of the Commission information on the situation of the fisheries of the Black Sea.

DATE AND PLACE OF THE SECOND SESSION

46.The Secretariat informed the Committee that delays in transferring funds for the financing of the next Session of the Scientific Advisory Committee might constitute a constraint to the convening of that Session in June 1999. The Committee called on Members of GFCM to make particular efforts to expedite the transferring of their contributions to FAO.

47.The Committee took note of the proposed agenda of the Second Session of the Scientific Advisory Committee which had been suggested by the Twenty-third Session of the Commission. It also noted that further progress will be required on issues relating to effort control and management units, as discussed in the current Session. It was proposed to add a further item to the agenda of the next session entitled "Further progress on items discussed at the First Session of the Scientific Advisory Committee".

48.The Committee, taking into consideration the workload that should be carried out before the next Session, called on its Members to make special efforts in order to prepare material relevant to agenda items 2, 3 and 4 of the Second Session as set out in Appendix D of the Report of the Twenty-third Session of GFCM (Rome, July 1998).

49.The Committee noted that the terms of reference of its meeting should have a higher degree of continuity. This would allow for the completion of work over successive sessions.

50.The Committee decided to hold the Second Session of the Scientific Advisory Committee at FAO Headquarters, Rome, from 8 to 11 June 1999.

ADOPTION OF THE REPORT

51.The report of the Session was adopted on 26 March 1999.

Appendix A

AGENDA

1. Opening of the Session

2. Adoption of the Agenda and arrangements for the Session

3. Election of Officers

4. Definition of the appropriate management units for Mediterranean fisheries:

• the distribution of unit biological stocks for the main species;
• the existing statistical areas;
• the occurrence of homogeneous fleets;
• the occurrence of consolidated scientific and technical cooperation.

5. Definition of the parameters to express fishing effort

6. Identification of the current situation and available information on stock assessment:

• stocks or areas where catch, effort and biological data are collected on a routine basis;
• fisheries or fleets for which economic data are collected on a routine basis;
• inventory of research vessel surveys;
• inventory of well established groups of scientists meeting regularly for stock assessment or for economic analysis.

7. Organization of future work: structure, data bases and functioning:

• Working groups, study groups, secretariat;
• data bases: creation and maintenance;
• organization of future meetings, allocation of tasks;
• links with environmental conventions.

8. Any other matters

9. Date and place of the next session

10.Adoption of the report

Appendix B

LIST OF PARTICPANTS

MEMBERS OF GFCM

ALBANIA

Eduard RECI
Consultant
General Fisheries Directorate
Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Bulevardi Deshmoret e Kombit
Tirana
Tel: (+355) 4229309

ALGERIA

Hariba YAHIA-CHERIF (Ms)
Représentant permanent adjoint
Ambassade de la République algérienne
démocratique et populaire
Via B. Oriani, 26
00197 Rome, Italie
Tél: (+39 06) 8084141/80687620 Fax: (+39 06) 8083436

Arezki LOUNICI
Représentant permanent suppléant
Ambassade de la République algérienne
démocratique et populaire
Via B. Oriani, 26
00197 Rome, Italie
Tél: (+39 06) 8084141/80687620
Fax: (+39 06) 8083436

Cherif AISSA
Sous-directeur des pêches
Ministère de l'agriculture et de la pêche
9 Rue Cherif Chalabi
Blida

BULGARIA

Krassimir KOSTOV
Permanent Representative
Permanent Representation of the
Republic of Bulgaria to FAO
Via Pietro P. Rubens 21
00197 Rome, Italy
Tel: (+39 06) 322 46 40
Fax: (+39 06) 322 61 22

CROATIA

Victor TADIC
Secretary
Embassy of the Republic of Croatia
Via Luigi Bodio 74-76
00191 Rome, Italy
Tel: (+39 06) 36307650/36307300
Fax: (+39 06) 36303405

CYPRUS

Andreas ROUSHIAS
Alternate Permanent Representative
Permanent Representation of the
Republic of Cyprus to FAO
Piazza Farnese 44
00186 Rome, Italy
Tel: (+39 06) 6865758/6865263
Fax: (+39 06) 68803756

EGYPT

EUROPEAN COMMUNITY � MEMBER ORGANISATION

Armando ASTUDILLO
Directorate General for Fisheries
DG XIV/C1
200 Rue de la Loi
1049 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: (+32 2) 296 11 91
Fax: (+32 2) 295 57 00
E-mail: [email protected]

FRANCE

Francois GAUTHIEZ
Conseiller scientifique
Direction des pêches maritimes et
des cultures marines
Ministère de l�agriculture et de la pêche
3, Place Fontenoy
75007 Paris
Tel: (+33 1) 49 55 82 03
Fax: (+33 1) 49 55 82 00
E-mail:[email protected]

Daniel BERTHERY
Conseiller scientifique
Représentation permanente de la France
auprès de l'OAA
Corso del Rinascimento, 52
00186 Rome, Italie
Tel: (+39 6) 68 65 305
Fax: (+39 6) 68 92 692

Henri FARRUGIO
Chef de laboratoire
IFREMER
1 Rue Jean Vilar
34200 Sète
Tel: (+33 67) 46 78 18
Fax: (+33 67) 70 40 90
E-mail: [email protected]

Jean MARIN
Chercheur halieute
IFREMER
1 Rue Jean Vilar
34200 Sète
Tel: (+33 67) 46 78 03
Fax: (+33 67) 70 40 90
E-mail:[email protected]

GREECE

C. PAPACONSTANTINOU
Director
Institute of Marine Biological
Resources/NCMR
Agios Kosmas, GR-166 04
Hellenikon, Athens
Tel: (+30 1) 98 21 354
Fax: (+30 1) 98 11 713/98 33 095
E-mail: [email protected]

O. AGIOVLASSITI
Head of Marine Fishery Department Planning Unit
Ministry of Agriculture
5, Acharnon Street
11143 Athens
Tel: (+30 1) 202 03 62
Tel: (+30 1) 202 20 86

D. SACARELOS
Permanent Representative of Greece
to the European Community
Rue Montoyer 25
1000 Brussels, Belgium

ISRAEL

S. PISANTY
Director
Fisheries Division
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development
PO Box 7011, Hakirya
Tel Aviv 61070
Tel: (+972 3) 6971 823
Fax: (+972 3) 6971 451
E-mail:[email protected]

ITALY

Plinio CONTE
Dirigente
Ministero per la Politiche Agricole
Viale dell' Arte 16
00144 Roma

C. PICCINETTI
Laboratorio di Biologia Marina Pesca
Viale Adriatico 1/N
61032 Fano
Tel: (+39 721) 802689
Fax: (+39 721) 801654

Rosanna FRONZUTO
Direzione Generale della Pesca
e dell'Acquacoltura
Ministero per le Politiche Agricole
Viale dell' Arte 16
00144 Roma

Dino LEVI
Director
IRMA
Via Vaccara, 61
Mazara del Vallo

JAPAN

Takanori OHASHI
Alternate Permanent Representative
Embassy of Japan
Via Quintino Sella 60
00187 Rome, Italy
Tel: (+39 06) 48799410/1/2/5
Fax: (+39 06) 48799413/4873316

Yukio TAKEUCHI
National Research Institute of
Far Seas Fisheries
Fishery Agency
5-7-1, Orido, Shimizu
Shizuoka 424-8633

LEBANON

LIBYA

MALTA

Francis MONTANARO MIFSUD
Ambassador to FAO
Permanent Representation of the
Republic of Malta to FAO
Lungotevere Marzio 12
00186 Rome, Italy
Tel: (+39 06) 6879990/6879947
Fax: (+39 06) 6892687

Mathew CAMILLERI
Fisheries Biologist
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
Barriera Wharf
Valletta
Tel: (+356) 650 934
Tel: (+356) 650 932
E-mail: [email protected]

MONACO

Sylvie TAMBUTTÉ (Ms)
Administrateur
Division patrimoine et milieux
Direction de l'environement, de
l'urbanisme et de la construction
23 Avenue Prince Héréditaire Albert
98000 Monaco
Tel: (+377) 93152078
Fax: (+377) 92052891

MOROCCO

Abdellatif BERRAHO
Secrétaire général
Institut national de recherche halieutique
2, rue de Tiznit
Casablanca
Tel: (+212 2) 222 090
Fax: (+212 2) 266 967
E-mail: [email protected]

Ahmed AFAILAL
Représentant permanent adjoint
Ambassade du Royaume du Maroc
Via L. Spallazani 8-10
00161, Rome, Italie
Tel: (+39 06) 4402524/4402587
Fax: (+39 06) 4402695

Abdelaziz ZOUBI
Biologiste des pêches chargé
des évaluations
Institut national de recherche halieutique
2, rue de Tiznit
Casablanca

Abdellah SROUR
Chef du centre de recherche régional
de l'INRH en Méditerranée
Institut national de recherche halieutique
B.P. 197 Bni Nsar
Nador
Tel: (+212 6) 60 40 20
Tel: (+212 6) 60 38 28
E-Mail:[email protected]

ROMANIA

Cornelia MAXIM (Ms)
Conseiller
Ministère de l�Agriculture et de l�Alimentation
Bucarest

SPAIN

Juan A. CAMIÑAS
Director
Centro Oceanografíco de Málaga
Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca
y Alimentación
Apto. 285, 29640 Fuengirola
Tel: (+34 95) 247 81 48
Fax: (+34 952) 246 38 08
E-mail:[email protected]

Pilar PEREDA (Ms)
Coordinadora Pesqueriás
Corazón de María 8
28002 Madrid
Tel: (+34 91) 347 37 31
E-mail: [email protected]

Maria Carmen CADENAS DE LLANO (Ms)
Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación
Ortega y Gasset 57
Madrid

Jordi LLEONART
ICM-CSIC, P. Joan de Borbó S/N
08039 Barcelona
E-mail: [email protected]

Luis GIL DE SOLA
Instituto Español de Oceanografía
Muelle Pesqueros S/N
29640 Fuengirola (Malaga)

Rogelio ABAD
Instituto Español de Oceanografía
Muelle Pesqueros S/N
29640 Fuengirola (Malaga)

José Miguel DE LA SERNA
Instituto Español de Oceanografía
Muelle Pesquero S/N
29640 Fuengirola (Malaga)

SYRIA

Kosay MOUSTAFA
Third Secretary
Embassy of Syrian Arab Republic
Piazza D'Aracoeli, 1
00186 Rome, Italy
Tel: (+39 06) 6797791/2/3
Fax: (+39 06) 6794989

TUNISIA

Mohamed SAMMOUD
Directeur
Ministère de l�Agriculture
Direction générale de la pêche
et de l'aquaculture
32 Rue Alain Savary
Tunis

Houcine GHARBI
Chargé de recherche agricole
et de pêche - INSTM
Centre de la Goulette
2060 Tunis

TURKEY

Ahmet SAYLAM
Alternate Permanent Representative
Permanent Representation of
the Republic of Turkey to FAO
Via F. Denza 27 - Int. 16
00197 Rome, Italy
Tel: (+39 06) 80690562/80690469
Fax: (+39 06) 80665610
E-mail:[email protected]

Atilla OZDEMIR
Agriculture Engineer
Bodrum Water Products Research Institute
Su Urunleri Aras. Enst.Pasatoarlari Cad, 1
48400 Bodrum
Tel: (+90 252) 31 62 491
Tel: (+90 252) 31 62 492

Fikret ORAN
Agriculture Engineer
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Milli Mudafa Cad. No. 20
Tarim veKoyisleri Bakanligi
Kizilay, Ankara

YUGOSLAVIA

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND SPECIALIZED AGENCIES

UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME

Chedly RAIS
Expert Data Researcher
Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP/UNEP)
Regional Activity Centre for
Specially Protected Areas
BP. 337
1080 Cedex Tunis, Tunisia
Tel: (+216 1) 795760
Fax: (+216 1) 797349
E-mail:[email protected]

OBSERVERS FROM INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE CONSERVATION OF ATLANTIC TUNAS

Peter M. MIYAKE
Assistant Executive Secretary, (ICCAT)
C. Corrazon de María 8
28002 Madrid
Tel: (+34 91) 4165600
Fax: (+34 91) 4152612
E-mail: [email protected]

INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

Frederic BRIAND
Directeur général
16 Bd de Suisse
98000 Monaco
Tel: (+377) 93 30 38 79
Fax: (+377) 92 16 11 95
E-mail:[email protected]

OBSERVERS FROM NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL

Alessandro GIANNI
Greenpeace International
Viale Manlio Gelsomini 28
00153 Rome, Italy
Tel: (+39 06) 572 99 921
Fax: (+39 06) 578 35 31
E-mail: [email protected]

WORLD WIDE FUND FOR NATURE

Paolo GUGLIELMI
Marine Officer
WWF Mediterranean Programme
Via Gargliano 57
00198 Rome, Italy
Tel: (+39 06) 844 97 358
Fax: (+39 06) 841 38 66
E-mail:[email protected]

FAO

Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00100 Rome
Fisheries Department

S. GARCIA
Director/Directeur
Fishery Resources Division
Tel: (+39 06) 57056467
Fax: (+39 06) 57053020
E-mail:[email protected]

B.P.SATIA
Chief
International Institutions and Liaison
Service/Service des institutions
internationales et de liaison
Tel: (+39 06) 57052847
Fax: (+39 06) 57056500
E-mail:[email protected]

Legal Office/Bureau Juridique

G. MOORE
Legal Counsel

COPEMED Project

R. ROBLES
Directeur
Edificío Germán Bernacér
Universidad de Alicante
Apartado 99
03080 Alicante, España
Tel: (+34 6) 5909313
Fax: (+34 6) 5909318
E-mail:[email protected]

GFCM Secretariat

H. BEN ALAYA
GFCM Secretary
Senior Fishery Liaison Officer
principal de liaison (pêches)
International Institutions and Liaison
Service
Tel: (+39 06) 57056435
Fax: (+39 06) 57056500
E-mail:[email protected]

J.F. CADDY
Technical Secretary
Fishery Resources Division
Tel: (+39 06) 57056097
Fax: (+39 06) 57053020
E-mail:[email protected]

M. PEDINI
Technical Secretary (Aquaculture)
Fishery Resources Division
Tel: (+39 06) 57056279
Fax: (+39 06) 57053020
E-mail:[email protected]

A. BONZON
Fishery Planning Officer
Fishery Policy and Planning Division
Tel: (+39 06) 57056441
Fax: (+39 06) 57056500
E-mail:[email protected]

S. COPPOLA
Fishery Resources Officer
Fishery Resources Division
Tel: (+39 06) 57056279
Fax: (+39 06) 57053020
E-mail:[email protected]

J. WEBB
Meetings Officer
International Institutions and Liaison
Service
Tel: (+39 06) 57056721
Fax: (+39 06) 57056500
E-mail:[email protected]

M. GUYONNET
Secretary
International Institutions and Liaison
Service
Tel: (+39 06) 57053951
Fax: (+39 06) 57056500
E-mail:[email protected]

Appendix C

LIST OF DOCUMENTS

GFCM:SAC/99/1	Provisional Agenda and Timetable
GFCM:SAC/99/2	Study and Reviews. No. 70 (1998): "Issues In Mediterranean Fishery Management: Geographical Units and Effort Control"
GFCM:SAC/99/3	Structure and functioning of the Scientific Advisory Committee
GFCM:SAC/99/Inf.1	Provisional List of Documents
GFCM:SAC/99/Inf.2	Provisional List of Participants
GFCM:SAC/99/Inf.3	Report of the Twenty-third Session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (Rome, Italy, 7-10 July 1998)
GFCM:SAC/99/Inf.4	Options concerning the structure and the functioning of the Scientific Advisory Committee and preparation for its First Session
GFCM:SAC/99/Inf.5	Report of the Second Session of the Working Party on Fisheries Economics and Statistics (Rome, Italy, 2-5 March 1998)

Appendix D

DRAFT DOCUMENT FOR DISCUSSION
ON A PARTITION OF THE GFCM AREA INTO FISHERY MANAGEMENT UNITS

Report of the Working Group on Management Units

I. Introductory notes

The partition shown below responds to a request made by GFCM at its Twenty-third Session. The Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) interpretation of the request is that there is a need to define areas for which:

• Management action can (but does not necessarily have to) be distinct;
• Scientific information on stock status is available, or can be made available by SAC in future meetings;
• SAC would ideally be in a position to give management advice.

This implies that a compromise must be found between management constraints and biological and bio-geographical considerations. Obviously, the partition proposed below is to a great extent arbitrary. It will constitute a working exercise, and therefore may be subject to future revisions.

II. Criteria used

In addition to the criteria indicated by the Commission in its mandate, special consideration is given to some guidelines that emerged from discussion of document GFCM :SAC/99/inf 5. These are given below:

1. National management units for coastal resources established within limits of national jurisdiction were not considered in this proposal;

2. Keep as far as possible the existing GFCM statistical divisions;

3. Consider that in narrow shelves, where these fall within the limits of national jurisdiction, management of demersal and small pelagic resources is a national responsibility;

4. Most islands may constitute distinct management units for demersal and small pelagic resources;

5. Try to match distribution patterns, especially for small pelagics, with oceanographic features (example of the Alboran Sea);

6. Take large shelves as management units for demersal and possibly also small pelagics.

III. Management units

• For bluefin tuna, the actual management unit (stock) extends beyond the Mediterranean, but particular management measures can be set for the Mediterranean or a part of it. With that in mind, it is considered that the whole area 37 as a single management area. The same area should be applicable to other large migratory fish (dolphinfish, billfishes, etc).
• For swordfish, ICCAT and the GFCM/ICCAT working group have been working on the hypothesis of a single stock in the entire Mediterranean. Some suggestions were made that there could be two distinct stocks, occupying areas: 37.1 and 37.2+37.3. The single stock hypothesis has to be further studied in this respect, as well as the eventual relation between the Atlantic and Mediterranean stocks.
• For non-demersal deepwater resources (bathypelagic fish and squids): the three main basins: 37.1, 37.2 and 37.3 were discussed as possible management areas. Precise definition of the relatively new fisheries in the areas (target species, depth limits, geographical distribution) should be given further consideration by SAC, ideally under the framework of an ad hoc group of experts.
• For demersal and small pelagics, the provisional management units are given below. It should be noted that some areas will require more precise definitions (e.g., what are the precise eastern limits of the Alboran Sea) that may be tackled in the near future on an ad hoc basis. Moreover, it should be also noted that the areas below do not prejudge the area of application of national jurisdiction (e.g. "waters around Corsica" means the area around the island which contains most of the resources, regardless of the distance from the base lines).

Western basin:

a) 37.1.1 waters surrounding the Balearic Islands

b) 37.1.1 waters off the Spanish continental coast, excluding Alboran Sea

c) 37.1.1 waters off Algeria, excluding Alboran Sea

d) 37.1.1 Alboran Sea

e) 37.1.2 Gulf of Lions

f) 37.1.2 waters off Côte d�Azur

g) 37.1.3 waters surrounding Corsica

h) 37.1.3 waters surrounding Sardinia

i) 37.1.3 waters off Northern Sicily

j) 37.1.3 waters off the Italian continental coast, down to Strait of Messina

k) 37.1.3 waters off Northern Tunisia

Central basin:

a) 37.2.1 northern and central Adriatic Sea

b) 37.2.2 southern Adriatic Sea, down to the Strait of Otranto

c) 37.2.2 waters off the southeast Italian continental coast

d) 37.2.2 waters off the western Greek continental coast

e) 37.2.2 waters off southern and eastern Sicily and Malta

f) 37.2.2 Gulf of Gabes and Gulf of Hammamed

g) 37.2.2 waters off Lybia, excluding the Gulf of Gabes

Eastern basin:

a) 37.3.1 Aegean Sea

b) 37.3.1 waters surrounding Crete

c) 37.3.2 waters surrounding Cyprus

d) 37.3.2 waters off the Southern Turkish coast

e) 37.3.2 Southeast Levant

f) 37.3.2 waters off Egypt

Marmara Sea and Black Sea:

a) 37.4.1 Marmara Sea

b) 37.4.2 Black Sea

c) 37.4.3 Azov Sea

It is understood that not all stock limits will be compatible with the zones defined above, and issues of shared and straddling stocks may apply. These may lead to changes in the above scheme as new information accumulates, or issues of shared and straddling stocks may have to be dealt with on a bilateral or multilateral basis.

Appendix E

DRAFT DOCUMENT FOR DISCUSSION
ON FISHING EFFORT PARAMETERS

Report of the Working Group on Capacity and Fishing Effort Parameters

I. Introductory notes

The Working Group was of the opinion that information on fleet capacity and distribution should be available to serve as the basis for defining fishing effort parameters. Therefore, the Working Group avoided entering directly into the definition of the data structure and segmentation of the fishing effort parameters to be collected, without first having analysed the reasons why it had not been possible to collect reliable information on fleet capacity although this information, in many cases, was already available at national level. The Working Group reviewed the fleet database created by GFCM and the FAO COPEMED Project. It was recognized that the base is not yet totally useful for evaluating fishing capacity as it is fairly incomplete and concentrates on vessels above 15 meters LOA. In addition, the data basis was not specifically related to identifying fishing effort per se.

II. Criteria discussed

The following points were addressed and recommendations formulated:

• The Working Group stressed the opportunity provided by the nature and structure of the SAC to ensure steady intersessional activity: the information would be collected regularly and computerised, and not sporadically as in the past; surveys could be planned and executed targeting specific issues, within an established programme of work;
• The fishing effort parameters should be defined, in relation to the management units concerned. Data should be collected on a sample basis and related to the Regional Register of fishing vessels;
• In spite of the difficulties encountered, the Regional Register should be properly established and maintained, with the objective of being used to estimate both fishing capacity and provide inputs on fishing efforts. It would also provide a frame for all other surveys to be undertaken in the region such as GIS and socio-economic data, and others; indeed, the Working Group noted that, due to the dynamic nature of fishing effort data, the objective was to develop a regularly updated fishing effort database. This could be related to a fishing vessel register primarily concerned with measuring fishing capacity in each statistical area;
• The core Regional database should contain the minimum common elements, but be consistent and coherent.
• An effort should be made to incorporate all fishing vessels fishing in the region, regardless of size, category and flags. The base should be flexible enough to accept records on artisanal fleets on a sample basis to enable an overview of the fleet, even if the data are not punctual.

The proposed structure of the core database will include for industrial vessels at least data on:

• Year


• National registration number


• Port of Registration


• Country (flag)


• Home port (operational base)


• Country issuing the licence


• Year of building


• Type of vessel


• Main fishing gear(s)


• Length (overall)


• Gross registered tonnage


• Power of the main engine


• Material of building (no full consensus)

For artisanal vessel data, structure will be proposed based on current work undertaken in collaboration with COPEMED project.

In order to achieve this task, the SAC should take advantage from all the sources of information available.

The database must be maintained at the level of each Management Unit as well, with respect to fishing areas, target species, effort parameters, etc., and should be maintained and updated in parallel with the effort statistics and other items collected for the various management units. The database could be further expanded when detailed effort data (as well as other dynamic data) could be better defined and systematically assessed. In this respect, each relevant research group within SAC should create and maintain dataset, that must be interrelated and harmonized accordingly.

Defining the units of effort based on agreed parameters should be further studied by SAC once some specific studies have been undertaken in various management areas on a pilot basis and for different gear/species/conditions.

Appendix F

DRAFT PROPOSAL
FOR TERMS OF REFERENCE OF SUBSIDIARY BODIES OF THE
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE

FOR DISCUSSION BY THE NEXT SESSION

1. General for all Sub-Committees

• Elaborate precise terms of reference for Working Groups on the basis of the Scientific Advisory Committee's mandate;
• Organize the inter-session preparatory work;
• Analyse working group reports and elaborate a summary for the Scientific Advisory Committee;
• Report to the Scientific Advisory Committee on a range of options for management and research, on the basis of work carried out by working groups;
• Call the attention to the Scientific Advisory Committee of encountered or foreseeable problems and propose solutions;
• Coordinate, where appropriate, and subject to the Scientific Advisory Committee's approval, with other scientific bodies working in similar fields;
• Analyse methodology and propose improvements if appropriate.

2. Specifics for each Sub-Committee

Sub-Committee for Stock Assessment (SCSA)

• Organize Working Groups to carry out assessments of particular stocks;
• Review and analyse the assessments done by the Working Groups, including the joint GFCM/ICCAT working group on large pelagic species;
• Provide annotated summaries of the assessments to SAC;
• Review and analyze the assessment methods.

Sub-Committee on Fishery Statistics and Information

• Update and maintain regional data bases concerning GFCM as a whole;
• Update and maintain any other data bases including geographical information systems (GIS) relevant to the Scientific Advisory Committee;
• Ensure with other national and international organizations and institutions concerned with fisheries statistics data and information as well as with FAO/FIGIS;
• Support the other sub-committees of the Scientific Advisory Committee in the field of statistical methodology, data bases conceptualisation, design, harmonization and analysis.

Sub-Committee on Economic and Social Sciences

• Undertake economic and social analysis to identify management options an to evaluate management measures ;
• Identify and collect effort, social and economic data and analyze related indicators;
• Promote bio-economic and legal research on fisheries and develop analytical and methological support;
• Strengthen and network social sciences expertise in the region;
• Formulate terms of reference of its ad hoc Working Groups as requested by the Scientific Advisory Committee;
• Establish organisational working arrangements for SCESS meetings and networks;
• Report to the Scientific Advisory Committee on the above.

Appendix G

DOCUMENT FOR DISCUSSION
ON TERMS OF REFERENCE OF A SUB-COMMITTEE FOR MARINE ENVIRONMENT
AND ECOSYSTEMS

• Establish links with existing regional bodies concerned with studies on the relationship/
  interaction between environment and marine ecosystems;
• Provide analysis of ecosystems trends and environmental conditions in relation to trends in fishery resources, biodiversity and genetic resources;
• Evaluate and direct impacts of human action on marine ecosystem including fisheries;
• Assess the relevance of international agreements on conservation and environment protection on Mediterranean fishery resources management.

Appendix H

RESEARCH SURVEYS BY COUNTRY - INVENTORY BY GFCM/SAC