Introduction 

The capacity to quantitatively assess the status of fisheries stocks and evaluate the trade-offs of management actions is an important asset to make informed decisions in fisheries management. Most well-managed fisheries rely on some form of stock assessment as basis for management advice, varying from the data demanding and costly methods used in large-scale and high-value fisheries to the less data intensive approaches used in some small-scale fisheries.  

In the context of the Mediterranean and Black Sea region, FAO has a long history of actions towards improving the knowledge on the status of stocks as well as the management of fisheries through the work of the General Fisheries Commission of the Mediterranean (GFCM). The European Commission Joint Research Centre (EC JRC) has been delivering stock assessment training since 2012 to support the stock assessment technical groups of the STECF Committee in both Mediterranean and Black Sea. Building on this and with the aim of developing capacity in the region, in 2018 and 2019 the GFCM, the JRC and the FAO regional projects jointly organised and delivered the “FAO/GFCM/JRC summer school in quantitative fisheries stock assessment”. The results of this summer school were tangible with a significant and noticeable improvement in the quality and quantity of assessments performed in the region. Despite this, there are still large differences in technical capabilities on new methods and tools among Mediterranean and Black Sea countries, affecting a more productive collaboration in the assessment of stocks at the sub-regional level as well as in the provision of advice in support of decision making, multiannual management plans in particular. Bridging these gaps is one of the objectives of the GFCM technical assistance and capacity development programmes, MedSea4Fish and BlackSea4Fish, and one that requires a continuous improvement of national capacities through appropriate training programmes. Such improvements will be instrumental to meet the objectives of the GFCM 2030 strategy for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in the Mediterranean and Black Sea and the EU Common Fisheries Policy towards the sustainability of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries. For these reasons, the GFCM MedSea4Fish and BlackSea4Fish programmes and the EC JRC/STECF have agreed to revamp the summer school, building on the efforts made in the past. 

Objective 

With the objective to enhance and maintain a high level of technical expertise in fish stock assessment in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, the GFCM MedSea4Fish and BlackSea4Fish programmes and the EC JRC have drafted a two-year plan for the “Summer School in Quantitative Fisheries Stock Assessment”, that in principle foresees a sequential series of training weeks on stock assessment. The summer school aims to continue offering an extended learning opportunity for fisheries scientists from the Mediterranean and Black Sea to keep up-to-date on new methods and tools for the assessment of stocks, and with the ultimate aim of further enhancing the pool of experts providing advice on the status of stocks within the framework of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (SAC) and the Working Group on the Black Sea (WGBS) of the GFCM as well as the stock assessment expert working groups (EWGs) of the STECF. The Summer School is theoretically planned to run over a two-year period for two weeks in 2024 and two weeks in 2025. This announcement pertains to the two weeks of 2024, while the possibility of continuing the training in 2025 is currently under evaluation. 

Target audience 

The school is intended for fisheries scientists engaged in stock assessment within fisheries departments, research institutes and non-governmental organizations in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, as well as to young scientists seeking specialization in applied quantitative methods for natural resources management.  

Program and prerequisites 

The summer school combines theoretical lectures with practical, hands-on sessions where scientists will have the chance to work on case study data sets provided by instructors. The course will be based on the R language for statistical computing and graphics.  

The course will be divided in two modules of five days. Selection for each module will depend on the experience of applicants. 

Module 1: Data exploration and analysis (beginners) 

• Overview of what is needed to conduct an age-based assessment and the population dynamic underlying it.  
• Introduction FLR:  Data objects, manipulation, and plotting  
• Estimating biological and fishery selectivity parameters  
• Working with length frequency data (LFDs), age-length-keys (ALKs) and conversion of length-to-age composition 
• Empirical estimators for natural mortality (M) 
• Building FLStock and FLIndex objects in FLR 
• Setting up a VPA in Excel and running XSA in FLR 

Technical requirements: basic knowledge of R  

• Module 2: Assessment applications (moderate experience): 

• Surplus production model theory 
• Surplus production model application with SPiCT 
• Per recruit analysis theory 
• Per recruit analysis application with LBSPR 
• Conducting catch-at-age assessments: XSA/a4a 
• Stock-recruitment, equilibrium dynamics and reference point estimation.  

 Technical requirements: good knowledge of R with FLR 

Dates and venue 

Dates 

• Module 1: 15-19 July 2024 
• Module 2: 22-26 July 2024 

Venue 

• European Commission - Joint Research Centre 
  JRC Ispra, 1,  
  21027 Ispra VA 
  Italy 

Language 

The modules will be delivered in English.  

Hardware/Software Requirements 

All software used throughout the course will be open-source and freely available for download from the internet. Participants will be required to provide their own laptops which should be wifi enabled. 

A specific share point will be created to store course material and data used during the training as well as to provide an online follow-up support after the training.  

The participants will be provided in advance with the guidelines to update and install the packages and R libraries on their laptops, ensuring they are set for working from the first day. 

Enrolment and registration 

Registration is free and open to fisheries scientists working in the Mediterranean and Black Sea countries. 

Maximum attendance is 20 participants per Module. 

Considering the limited availability of seats, preference will be given to applicants from different countries and based on the submitted CV.  

In order to apply for the school, applicants should send an email by 7 June 2024 to the following address: [email protected] 

Along with their name, surname and affiliation, applicants will be invited to submit a short CV (maximum 3 pages) including information that allows to assess their involvement in data collection, data manipulation, and stock assessment issues. 

Financial support is available to cover the travel and living expenses for 12 participants per week. The allocation of the funds will be based on the analysis of the applications and will be preferably given to researchers from developing countries.