Report of the thirty-ninth session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), Milan, Italy, 25-29 May 2015

• Main Author: FAO
• Format: Text
• Language: French
• Published: FAO 2016
• Subjects: droit; scipo; Turbot
• Online Access: https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00710/82210/87028.pdf; https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00710/82210/87029.pdf; https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00710/82210/

The thirty-ninth session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), including the sixth session of the Committee on Administration and Finance (CAF) and the ninth session of the Compliance Committee (CoC), was attended by representatives from 23 Contracting Parties, 3 non-Members as well as 7 intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. In the context of the amendment process of the GFCM legal framework, the Commission examined and adopted by consensus its new rules of procedure and financial regulations, in line with the new GFCM Agreement entered into force on 20 May 2014. During the session, the cooperating non-contracting party status was granted to Georgia and Ukraine in light of their increasing involvement in GFCM activities in the Black Sea. Moreover, in order to enhance cooperation with partner organizations, the Commission, based on a proposed set of objectives and activities, requested the GFCM Secretariat to finalize and sign, on behalf of GFCM/FAO, four new memoranda of understanding with MedPAN, ATLAFCO, OceanCare and EATIP. A set of important measures for the management and conservation of fisheries resources in both the Mediterranean and the Black Sea were discussed and agreed upon. In particular, the Commission adopted four recommendations, namely: Recommendation GFCM/39/2015/1 establishing further precautionary and emergency measures in 2016 for small pelagic stocks in the Adriatic Sea (GSA 17 and GSA 18); Recommendation GFCM/39/2015/2 on the establishment of a set of minimum standards for bottom trawling fisheries of demersal stocks in the Strait of Sicily, pending the development and adoption of a multiannual management plan; Recommendation GFCM/39/2015/3 on the establishment of a set of measures to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in turbot fisheries in the Black Sea and Recommendation GFCM/39/2015/4 on management measures for piked dogfish in the Black Sea. The session also provided an opportunity for GFCM Members to ...