October 31, 2018 — The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) has adopted 11 recommendations in a bid to address the critical situation of stocks in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, it has said.

The regional fisheries management organization, created under both the EU and the United Nations, took the decisions at its 42nd session, held at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) headquarters in Rome, Italy.

“After a year of continuous efforts, all countries involved have reached, for the first time, a consensus on all new proposals presented,” it said. “These binding decisions relate in particular to multi-annual management plans for trawl fisheries in the Levant, the Ionian Sea and the Strait of Sicily, conservation measures for sharks and rays, a multiannual management plan for European eel in the Mediterranean, and further emergency measures for small pelagic stocks in the Adriatic Sea.”

Moreover, important decisions towards improving monitoring control and surveillance have been adopted, such as international joint inspection and surveillance schemes outside the waters under national jurisdiction in the Strait of Sicily and the Adriatic Sea, the marking of fishing gear, and access to information and data related to monitoring, control and surveillance, it said.

In light of the growing focus on non-indigenous species, that are transforming Mediterranean and Black Sea ecosystems, the body also agreed on the creation of a monitoring network for these species — a first for the region — as well as on regional research programs for blue crab in the Mediterranean and for rapa whelk in the Black Sea.

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