This report summarizes the discussions held during the forty-fourth session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean and the eleventh session of the Committee on Administration and Finance. During the session, progress in activities related to fisheries, aquaculture, compliance and other strategic activities was reviewed. The Commission adopted 21 binding recommendations and 14 resolutions dealing with fisheries management and conservation, aquaculture, compliance, vessel monitoring and the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing as well as the GFCM 2030 Strategy for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Moreover, the Commission reviewed issues related to its functioning and to the mandate of the GFCM Executive Secretary. Finally, the Commission adopted its programme of work for the next intersession and approved its autonomous budget for 2022 as well as a number of strategic actions to be funded through extrabudgetary resources. The Commission also renewed the GFCM Bureau as well as the mandates of the Bureaus of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Aquaculture and the Working Group on the Black Sea, and endorsed the new Bureaus of the Compliance Committee and the Committee on Administration and Finance.

This report summarizes the discussions held during the forty-sixth session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) and thirteenth session of the Committee on Administration and Finance. [Author] During the session, progress in activities related to fisheries, aquaculture, compliance and other strategic activities was reviewed. [Author] The Commission adopted 24 binding recommendations and ten resolutions related to fisheries management and conservation, aquaculture and compliance. [Author] Finally, the Commission adopted the revised GFCM Financial Regulations as well as its programme of work for the next intersession and approved its autonomous budget for 2024, 2025 and 2026, as well as a number of strategic actions to be funded through extrabudgetary resources. [Author] The Commission also extended the mandate of its current Bureau for two additional years and endorsed the new Bureaus of the Compliance Committee and the Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries. [Author]

The forty-third session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) and the tenth session of the Committee on Administration and Finance were attended by delegates of 19 contracting parties, as well as of three cooperating non-contracting parties and two non-contracting parties. Representatives from 13 intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and its regional projects, as well as the Bureaus of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies, were also in attendance. During the session, progress in activities related to fisheries, aquaculture, compliance and other strategic activities was reviewed. Moreover, the outcomes of the second GFCM performance review were commented. In relation to the management of fisheries and aquaculture in the GFCM area of application, eight binding recommendations were adopted, dealing with the following issues: the use of anchored fish aggregating devices in common dolphinfish fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea, information on access agreements in the GFCM area of application, the establishment of a list of vessels presumed to have carried out illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the GFCM area of application, the sustainable exploitation of blackspot seabream in the Alboran Sea and red coral in the Mediterranean Sea, multiannual management plans for turbot fisheries in the Black Sea and sustainable demersal fisheries in the Adriatic Sea, and management measures for sustainable trawl fisheries targeting giant red shrimp and blue and red shrimp in the Strait of Sicily. Furthermore, the Commission discussed issues related to the mandate of the GFCM Executive Secretary.

The expert meeting on fisheries-related other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) in the Mediterranean was co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) and held online from 16 to 17 February 2022. It sought to establish a way forward for identifying fisheries-related OECMs in the Mediterranean region and provide technical input to prepare and test FAO’s practical guidance for the establishment and management of OECMs in marine fisheries. The main points covered during the expert meeting included: introducing participants to the OECM concept; the initial application of the criteria for OECMs, as determined by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), to a set of case studies and fisheries-related measures in the region; the compilation and discussion of main challenges related to the application of the criteria, with initial recommendations on how to address them; an initial screening of eight Mediterranean case studies against the OECM criteria; agreement on next steps to undertake a more in-depth evaluation of the case studies presented for discussions during GFCM subregional committee meetings; and the assessment of the implications, opportunities and potential difficulties that arise from identifying fishery-related OECMs in the Mediterranean.

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (SAC) of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) held its twenty-second session online, from 22 to 25 June 2021. The session was attended by delegates from 19 Mediterranean contracting parties, 11 observers, as well as representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Fisheries Division, the GFCM Secretariat and invited experts. The Committee reviewed the work carried out during the 2019–2021 intersession, including within the framework of the mid-term strategy (2017–2020) towards the sustainability of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries and in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and provided advice on status of priority stocks and ecosystems and on potential management measures addressing key fisheries and vulnerable species in the Mediterranean. In line with the subregional approach, the Committee formulated advice focusing on: i) small pelagic and priority demersal fisheries in the Adriatic Sea; ii) common dolphinfish and blackspot seabream fisheries in the western Mediterranean; iii) small pelagic and bottom trawl fisheries exploiting demersal stocks, particularly European hake, in the central Mediterranean; iv) deep-water red shrimp fisheries in the eastern-central Mediterranean, including their interactions with vulnerable marine ecosystems; and v) round sardinella in the eastern Mediterranean. The Committee also agreed on the technical soundness of three FRA proposals for the Bari Canyon, the Ebro Delta margin and the Palmahim Disturbance, to be submitted to the Commission. At the regional level, the Committee provided advice on the following: i) fishing technology and bycatch, including minimal technical specifications for bottom-trawl nets and the need for targeted pilot projects to investigate possible mitigation measures; ii) data call for the database on sensitive benthic habitats and species and other effective area-based conservation measures for the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems and essential fish habitats; and iii) advances in the adaptation strategy for climate change. Furthermore, the Committee discussed additional work in support of the GFCM, namely the implementation of the Regional Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, dedicated research programmes as well as other activities to enhance fisheries management in the region. Finally, the Committee agreed upon its work plan for 2021–2023.

This report presents the outcomes of the twenty-fourth session of the GFCM Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries. The Committee reviewed the work carried out during the 2022–2023 intersession, including in the context of the MedSea4Fish programme, and provided advice on the status of priority stocks and ecosystems and on potential management measures addressing key fisheries and vulnerable species in the Mediterranean. At the regional level, the Committee provided advice on: i) European eel, red coral and common dolphinfish fisheries in the Mediterranean; ii) minimum conservation reference size for GFCM priority species, including deep-water red shrimp and European hake at the regional level as well as small pelagics in the Adriatic sea and round sardinella in the eastern Mediterranean; and iii) the socioeconomic impacts of a potential extension of bottom trawling limits. With regard to small-scale fisheries, the Committee supported the need to revise the monitoring framework of the Regional Plan of Action for small-scale fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It discussed additional work in support of the GFCM, endorsing dedicated research programmes, including on recreational fisheries and on jellyfish in the Alboran Sea, as well as a draft regional plan of action to monitor and mitigate interactions between fisheries and vulnerable species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and identified further actions towards the implementation of standardized monitoring plans for fisheries restricted areas (FRAs) and the development of pilot studies to identify boundaries of known vulnerable marine ecosystems. It also discussed issues related to decarbonization and climate change, estimation of discards and fishing capacity. In line with the subregional approach, the Committee formulated advice on i) blackspot seabream in the western Mediterranean; ii) small pelagics in the Alboran Sea; iii) a FRA in the Cabliers Coral Mound Province; iv) Norway lobster, red mullet and striped red mullet in the central Mediterranean; v) round sardinella, small-scale fisheries and non-indigenous species in the eastern Mediterranean; and vi) small pelagics and key demersal stocks in the Adriatic Sea. Finally, the Committee agreed upon its workplan for 2023–2025.

This report summarizes the discussions held during the forty-fifth session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean and twelfth session of the Committee on Administration and Finance. During the session, progress in activities related to fisheries, aquaculture, compliance and other strategic activities was reviewed. The Commission adopted 17 binding recommendations and four resolutions related to fisheries management and conservation, aquaculture and compliance. Moreover, the Commission adopted the revised GFCM Rules of Procedure and approved the proposal for the appointment of the new GFCM Executive Secretary. Finally, the Commission adopted its programme of work for the next intersession and approved its autonomous budget for 2023, 2024 and 2025, as well as a number of strategic actions to be funded through extrabudgetary resources. The Commission also endorsed the new Bureau of the Committee on Administration and Finance and extended the mandate of the Bureau of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Aquaculture until 2024.

The forty-first session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean as well as the eighth session of the Committee on Administration and Finance was attended by delegates of 22 contracting parties, as well as of three cooperating non-contracting parties and one non-contracting party. Representatives from 20 intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and its regional projects as well as the Bureaus of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies, were also in attendance.

In the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, the assessment of demersal stocks mainly relies on scientific surveys (bottom and beam trawl) while the assessment of pelagic stocks is essentially based on acoustic surveys using acoustic techniques with mid-water trawling. These routine surveys-at-sea provide essential information, which in turn are crucial to fine-tune the assessments of the status of resources and to estimate more precisely indicators at the population and fish community levels. However, survey practices differ from one subregion to another, each approach having its own strengths and limitations. In addition, there is still a lack of large-scale standardized surveys aimed at analysing the diversity and distribution of the main demersal and pelagic species across the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. One way of tackling this issue is to carry out international scientific surveys covering the main demersal and pelagic stocks based on a common methodology. The methodology presented in this publication aims at supporting the planning and implementation of regional demersal (bottom and beam) trawl and pelagic acoustic surveys. It can be useful for the implementation of new surveys-at-sea in areas where demersal trawl and pelagic acoustic surveys are not regularly carried out. It can also contribute to increasing comparability between existing surveys thanks to the standardization of methods, sampling of catches and data recording and analysis. Finally, it represents a valuable tool to define minimum requirements towards sustainability and management objectives at the regional and subregional level.

The Thirty-first Session of the European Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Advisory Commission (EIFAAC) was held in Killarney, Ireland, from 22 to 24 June 2022. The Session presented and discussed the results achieved by EIFAAC, its Management Committee and its Technical and Scientific Committee since the Thirtieth Session of EIFAAC in 2019. The Commission adopted four Resolutions and one Recommendation: 1) On EIFAAC Resolutions, Recommendations and Advisory Notes; 2) On the Code of Conduct for Recreational Fisheries and Invasive Alien Species; 3) On the protection of vulnerable and endangered fish species from unsustainable predation from cormorants; 4) On small-scale fisheries and aquaculture; and 5) On the Code of Practice for Recreational Fisheries. The Commission also reviewed the endorsed the recommendations from the well-attended EIFAAC International Symposium on “Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture - Advances in Technology, Stock Assessment and Citizen Science in an Era of Climate Change”, held in Killarney, Ireland, from 20 to 21 June 2022. Finally, the Commission reviewed and endorsed the updated EIFAAC Rules of Procedure and the work programme 2022–2024 and elected new officers. The Session and Symposium received generous support from the host organizations, Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Irish Department of Environment, Climate and Communications.