Targets, proposed action and outputs towards the sustainability of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries (2017-2020) have been put forward.
According to the FAO, thirteen years after the adoption of the Declaration of the Ministerial Conference for the Sustainable Development of Fisheries in the Mediterranean (2003 Venice Declaration), great strides have been made in promoting responsible fisheries practices.
The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has been central to the promotion of common rules and strengthening regional co-operation in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
But the FAO stresses that fisheries in the area still face serious challenges, as roughly 90% of the region’s scientifically assessed stocks are considered to be fished outside safe biological limits, with implications for the fisheries sector itself while hindering attempts to ensure secure livelihoods and food security, through blue growth initiatives, for the coastal communities in the region.
The GFCM has launched the mid-term strategy (2017-2020) towards the sustainability of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries in order to define a course of decisive action aimed at reverting the alarming trend in the status of commercially exploited stocks. Aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the mid-term strategy seeks to improve Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries and contribute to the sustainable development of coastal States.
Through the implementation of the following five targets, the mid-term strategy is expected to ensure that, by 2020, the alarming trend in the status of commercially exploited stocks is reversed: The primary target is to reverse the declining trend of fish stocks through strengthened scientific advice in support of management. Subsequent targets are to support livelihoods for coastal communities through sustainable small-scale fisheries. to curb illegal unreported and unregulated fishing, through a regional plan of action, to minimise and mitigate unwanted interactions between fisheries and marine ecosystems and environment, and to enhance capacity-building and co-operation.
The GFCM’s mid-term strategy (2017-2020) towards the sustainability of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries can be downloaded here.
