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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The second meeting of the Subregional Committee for the Adriatic Sea (SRC-AS) of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (SAC) of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) was held at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, on 24–25 February 2017. The aims of the meeting were to: i) integrate, as appropriate, the assessments of the status of Adriatic stocks emanating from the Working Group on Stock Assessment of Demersal Species (WGSAD) and the Working Group on Stock Assessment of Small Pelagic Species (WGSASP); ii) review, integrate and provide comments on the outcomes of the Workshop on the assessment of management measures (WKMSE); iii) compile new management measures implemented in the Adriatic countries in line with Recommendation FCM/40/2016/3; iv) provide advice in relation to the management of small pelagic fisheries in the Adriatic Sea, in accordance with the provisions of Recommendations GFCM/37/2013/1, GFCM/38/2014/1, GFCM/39/2015/1 and GFCM/40/2016/3; v) identify priority topics for the subregion, including in relation to data collection, the provision of advice and the implementation of management measures; and vi) propose a list of activities of relevance to the subregion to be considered for the 2017–2018 SAC work plan. The SRC-AS formulated a draft advice to update the technical contents of the management plan for small pelagic fisheries in the Adriatic Sea (Recommendation GFCM/40/2016/3), including moving towards fleet-based stock assessment models, the establishment of an expert group for the social and bioeconomic assessment of management measures, training on integrated assessment models (for small pelagic and demersal species) and quantitative assessments of management scenarios, as well as indications on the need for stability in management measures in order to evaluate their effects. The SRC-AS recommended to carry out further work on the assessment of management measures, including socio-economic analysis. Finally, the SRC-AS examined and made technical comments on the contents of a proposal to establish a Fisheries Restricted Area (FRA) in the Jabuka/Pomo Pit in the central Adriatic Sea (GSA 17) and agreed to present this proposal to the SAC for final validation and potential submission to the Commission.