General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean - GFCM

Committee on Aquaculture (CAQ) - 6th session

17 December 2008 -19 December 2008

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The sixth session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) Committee on Aquaculture (CAQ) was held in Tirana, Albania, from 17 to 19 December 2008. The session was attended by delegates from eleven Members of the Commission and by the observer from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Committee reviewed the status and trends of the Mediterranean aquaculture as well as the intersessional activities undertaken also by its Working Groups respectively on Marketing of Aquaculture (WGMA), on Siting and Carrying Capacity (WGSC), on Aquaculture Sustainability (WGSA), as well as the progress achieved in relation to the Information System for the Promotion of Aquaculture in the Mediterranean Countries (SIPAM). The CAQ discussed on the main problems faced by the Mediterranean aquaculture market and agreed on the need to harmonize and to implement the procedures for site selection and site management of Mediterranean aquaculture, for Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Monitoring Programmes (EMP). The Committee confirmed that the sustainability of aquaculture depends on four key dimensions being the economic, social, environmental and governance dimension. The CAQ noted that identification of sustainable aquaculture indicators and reference points should be understandable for all stakeholders and easily quantifiable. It formulated aquaculture management advice aimed to establish a regional data collection scheme for aquaculture data and information and agreed on the preliminary set of data to be collected. It agreed upon its workplan for 2009.