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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Expert meeting on management measures for small pelagic fisheries in the Alboran sea was held on 13 October 2023 in Malaga (Spain) at the FAO-GFCM Technical Unit for Western Mediterranean premises in hybrid mode. It was attended by 18 participants from national administrations, and research institutes of Algeria, Morocco and Spain as well as the GFCM Secretariat. In order to provide advice to the Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries  on small pelagics fisheries in Alboran sea, the main objectives of the Expert meeting were to: review the state of small pelagic fisheries up to 2022 including fishing effort, annual catch, as well as the results on recent stock assessments in geographical subareas 1, 3 and 4; review and collate all the national management measures in place for small pelagic fisheries; discuss and identify management priorities and a minimum set of measures applicable and, elaborate a road map towards the implementation of the potential measures. The experts put forward all information available on small pelagics in the area as well as the current management measures in place in the three countries. A qualitative assessment of their effectiveness and difficulties on the implementation was carried out. The group agreed that the current measures at national level were very recent and that more time was needed to properly assess their impact on the fisheries. In consequence, they considered premature the proposal of common measures for an eventual joint management plan in the whole Alboran sea.