Review of the recommendations of the Seventh Session of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC)
61. The Chairperson of SAC presented for each of the Sub-Committees the recommendations and advice of the Seventh Session of the Committee as referred to in documents GFCM/XXIX/2005/6 and GFCM/XXIX/2005/Inf.6. With reference to the work of the SCSA, he emphasized that only very limited portion of GFCM stocks and species had been assessed.
62. The Commission endorsed the advice on resource management emanating from the SCSA as well as the suggestions identified by the other Sub-Committees as provided for in the report of the Seventh session.
63. The Commission further reiterated its satisfaction for the increasing quality and quantity of work performed by the Committee and thanked the scientists accordingly. Several delegations stressed the efforts made toward formulating integrated advice which include the various dimensions of the management of concerned fisheries and urged the Committee to strengthen this trend.
64. The Commission stressed that major number of stocks and GFCM GSAs should be covered, especially shared stocks. It was acknowledged that this should be favoured by the commencement of the EastMed project.
65. The delegate from Croatia expressed concern in relation to the conclusions of SAC concerning small pelagic species in the Adriatic, especially sardines, as, according to Croatian estimates the catch of this species might not exceed 10 percent of estimated biomass. He suggested that certain technical management measures, such as protection of spawning stocks and juveniles, and control of commercialisation of undersized specimen should be considered prior to establishing direct fishing effort-related measures. He further suggested that SAC should put more effort on harmonized stock assessment methodologies taking due account of the precautionary approach.
66. The delegate from the EC expressed great concern on the state of small pelagic stocks in the Northern and Central Adriatic and remarked that some of the results of scientific analysis promoted by the AdriaMed project would support this view. He supported the allusion from the Croatian delegation to thoroughly rely on precautionary principles and further stressed the need for common understandings of stock assessment methods. He suggested, and the Commission agreed, to establish a Permanent Working Group on Stock Assessment Methodologies including to certify the quality of methods used.
67. Following the in-depth review of the scientific advice emanating from the SAC, and on the basis of a proposal circulated and submitted by the European Community, the Commission adopted, with reference to Article V of the GFCM Agreement, Recommendation GFCM/2005/1 on the management of certain fisheries exploiting demersal and deepwater species. This binding Recommendation is reproduced in Appendix G.
68. The delegate from the EC remarked that, on the basis of the scientific advice prepared by SAC, more emphasis should have been given to freezing fishing effort at current level, and that the adoption of management measures on this issue should be considered at the next session of GFCM.
69. The delegate from Morocco informed the Commission on the ongoing programme launched in his country to progressively eradicate driftnet fishing in the Mediterranean.
70. Following a suggestion by the delegate from Malta, the Commission requested the Secretariat to prepare and maintain a compendium of GFCM recommendations, either binding or not, with the view to better monitoring the implementation of GFCM decisions and measures by Members.
71. The Executive Secretary of ACCOBAMS informed the Commission on the Resolutions adopted at the last plenary session of the Parties to the Agreement, including in relation to the use of acoustic deterrent devices and the assessment and mitigation of negative impacts of fisheries activities on cetaceans. She also alluded to the modalities related to the implementation by the ACCOBAMS Parties, of the ICCAT Recommendation on the prohibition of drifnets and wished that in 2005-2006, joint projects such as on the study and attenuation of the negative impacts of incidental catches of protected species be implemented.
ICCAT Recommendations of relevance to the Mediterranean
72. On the basis of document GFCM/XXIX/2005/Inf.10, the Commission reviewed the following Recommendations and Resolutions adopted by ICCAT in 2003 and 2004: [03-04], [03-10], [03-11], [03-21], [04-05], [04-06], [04-07], [04-10], and [04-12]. It noted that Recommendation [03-09] was superseded by [04-06] and therefore decided to discard its consideration.
73. The Commission adopted, with reference to Article V of the GFCM agreement, the ICCAT Recommendations which are reproduced in Appendix G to this report. With respect to the GFCM Members which are Members of ICCAT, the Commission further decided that Recommendations adopted by ICCAT in 2004 will enter into force on 15 June 2005, that is at the date of entry into force of these recommendations for the Contracting Parties of ICCAT.
IUU fishing in the Mediterranean
74. The Secretariat presented the main conclusions and recommendations of the GFCM Workshop on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Mediterranean, held in June 2004, as reproduced in the report of the Workshop (GFCM/XXIX/2005/Inf.8). The proposals for an IUU component of the programme of work of the Commission as identified by the Workshop, were emphasized. These included implementing a step by step approach both at national and regional levels, taking into account considerations on cost-effectiveness and the specificities of Mediterranean fisheries.
75. The Commission commended the work of the participants at the Workshop. It considered that this was a sound basis for further follow-up, consistent with the guidance provided by GFCM at its Twenty-eighth session and with the objectives outlined in the Declaration of the Ministerial Conference for the Sustainable Development of Fisheries in the Mediterranean held in November 2003.
76. The delegate from the EC presented two out of six formal draft proposals on IUU fishing submitted by the European Community and the EU Member States that were made available to the Commission as document GFCM/XXIX/2005/Dma.9. These included: a proposal for a GFCM Recommendation for the establishment of a record of fishing vessels over 15 meters in length authorized to operate in the GFCM area and a proposal concerning general guidelines for a possible GFCM control scheme. The delegate of France remarked that these proposals were inspired from similar decisions adopted by ICCAT.
77. After reviewing the draft Recommendation on "The establishment of a record of fishing vessels over 15 metres in length authorized to operate in the GFCM Area", the Commission adopted it, under Article V of the GFCM Agreement, as binding Recommendation GFCM/2005/2. The delegates of Algeria, Egypt and Libya expressed, however, the wish to further study the Recommendation and referred to their privilege to use the objection procedure stipulated in Article V (3) of the GFCM Agreement. Recommendation GFCM/2005/2 is enclosed as Appendix G to this report.
78. In this respect, some delegations stressed the need to maintain consistency between the GFCM and the ICCAT registers for vessels over 24 metres of length.
79. The Commission also adopted, in application of Article III (h) of the GFCM Agreement, the proposal concerning General Guidelines for a GFCM control scheme, which are attached as Appendix H to this report.
80. The Commission further urged Members to develop and adopt National Plans of Action on IUU fishing.
81. The Commission acknowledged that the four other proposals submitted by the EC, remained before Members for further analysis by competent national authorities with the understanding that they will be examined at the next plenary session of GFCM. These proposals respectively cover the: i) Establishment of an IUU vessels list (black list); ii) Criteria for obtaining the status of Cooperating Non-Contracting Party; iii) Terms of reference for the creation of a GFCM Compliance Committee; and iv) Data confidentiality policy and procedures.
82. The Commission also invited the MedFisis project to give priority to establishing a vessel register (white list) under the close supervision of the Executive Secretary.
Review of the recommendations of the Fourth Session of the Committee on Aquaculture (CAQ)
83. The Technical Secretary of CAQ presented the major conclusions and recommendations of the Fourth Session of the Committee as provided in document GFCM/XXIX/2005/6. He recalled that many conclusions and recommendations derived from the outcome of the Meeting of experts on the External Evaluation of CAQ and its Networks. These included the identification of CAQ main weaknesses, especially the current structure (which made the activities of the Networks so far dependent upon the contributions made by FAO, CIHEAM and the Tunisian Government), the lack of clear terms of references for the Committee and its Networks and the limited input from Members participating in SIPAM.
84. It was also recalled that CAQ had endorsed a series of suggestions for each of the Networks. It was stressed that the SIPAM National Coordinators should be endowed with an institutional mandate and provided with adequate means at national level to carry out their activities. The timely recruitment of the SIPAM Information and Communication Officer was also acknowledged. It was further recommended that TECAM and SELAM provide more focus on analysis of issues of regional concern. This might require seeking additional funding to complement the limited resources provided by CIHEAM and the FAO Fisheries Department and mobilization of national aquaculture institutions. It was also recalled that the Commission recommended at its Extraordinary Session, as a matter of priority, the reestablishment of EAM.
85. It was noted that, following the review of the revised regional aquaculture project proposal, the Committee had identified the divergence of priorities throughout the region as making it difficult for a single project to be endorsed by all Members or to attract donor support. In this regard, CAQ recommended splitting priorities embodied in the project proposal, differentiating issues of regional interest from those specific to a sub-region. The Committee on Aquaculture also identified additional priority issues of regional and sub-regional interest.
86. The Commission endorsed the recommendations of CAQ.
87. In the following discussion, the Observer from CIHEAM reiterated his satisfaction to collaborate with GFCM through TECAM and SELAM. The Commission was reminded that since 1995 CIHEAM had organized a large number of training activities and ensured the publication and distribution of technical documents and reports. The collaboration with FAO was mainly through technical inputs and participation to the activities of the two Networks, noting, however, that such contribution had severely declined in recent years. In this regard, he stressed that the modus operandi of the Networks, including the financing of activities, would require clarification under the new functioning of GFCM. The Commission endorsed the suggestion that the GFCM Secretariat and CIHEAM, as Coordinator of TECAM and SELAM, should review the issue and present options on how future collaboration could be adequately structured.
88. The SIPAM Regional Coordinator referred to the Extraordinary Session, at which the SIPAM Network had been allocated funds to carry out activities in 2005. He called upon the FAO Fisheries Department to possibly assist with advancing some funds, until the autonomous budget become fully operational, especially to convene the SIPAM Annual Meeting at earliest convenience. In addition, he invited the SIPAM participating Member countries to confirm the appointment of their National Coordinators or appoint new ones on the basis of the terms of references approved by the Commission.
