Project Medfish launched

The project’s first initiative is to map 100 of the fisheries critical to small scale fishers in France and Spain, addressing critical gaps in the data available to assess their sustainability.

The Mediterranean supports a thriving fishing community made up of many small scale, fragmented fisheries targeting multiple species. Among the 2,760 Spanish and 1,400 French fishing boats, 70% of Spanish fleet and about 90% of French fleet are considered to be small-scale.

The livelihoods of 8,300 fishers in Spain and 2,300 in France depend on fishing in the Mediterranean. However, a limited access to resources and data often prevents these fisheries from improving their sustainability. According to the little data available on the state of fish stocks, 88% of the Mediterranean fisheries assessed are overfished.

The French and Spanish offices of the two organisations will employ third party assessors to carry out a rigorous and comprehensive analysis of French and Spanish Mediterranean fisheries. The assessment will use the MSC Fisheries Standard as a benchmark for sustainability.

Whilst Project Medfish has an initial focus on France and Spain it’s hoped that other countries of the region will become part of the project in the near future.

The project will run for two years. Fourteen fisheries will then be pre-assessed against the MSC criteria for sustainable fishing and action plans developed to address weaknesses and guide fisheries towards improvements. The project also aims to work with supply chain organisations to increase demand for sustainable seafood and develop a more sustainable Mediterranean seafood market.

For some of the fisheries, this project may offer the opportunity to enter full assessment for MSC certification. For others they will have a clear plan to enable them to work towards future sustainability.

The organisations are inviting anyone with an interest in fisheries management in the Mediterranean to get involved.