Ecosystem effects of fishing in the Mediterranean: an analysis of the major threats of fishing gear and practices to biodiversity and marine habitats.

Abstract

The GEF-funded project (Global Environmental Facility) on the Determination of priority actions for further elaborations and implementation of the Strategic Action Programme for the Mediterranean Sea, an initiative under the framework of the Barcelona Convention, includes the Preparation of a Strategic Action Plan for the Conservation of Biological Diversity (SAP BIO) in the Mediterranean Region. This last project is led by the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) and is aimed at providing a logical basis for the implementation of the 1995 SPA Protocol. The document presented here is one of the five outputs produced as a result of the Memorandum of Understanding concluded between RAC/SPA and the Fisheries Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with the general objective to produce technical documents and guidelines aimed at facilitating the national process for the elaboration of strategic action plans to face the im pact of fishing activities on biological diversity.