On the occasion of its thirty-ninth annual session, the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) adopted four binding recommendations setting emergency measures for small pelagic fisheries in the Adriatic Sea, standards for bottom trawling demersal fisheries in the Strait of Sicily, and measures to ensure sustainable fisheries management and to deter illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Black Sea.
Members of the GFCM also proclaimed 24 April of each year as “International day against IUU fishing.”
June 2015: On the occasion of its thirty-ninth annual session, the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) adopted four binding recommendations setting emergency measures for small pelagic fisheries in the Adriatic Sea, standards for bottom trawling demersal fisheries in the Strait of Sicily, and measures to ensure sustainable fisheries management and to deter illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Black Sea. Members of the GFCM also proclaimed 24 April of each year as “International day against IUU fishing.”
The GFCM convened its 39th session from 25‑29 May 2015.
Also on fisheries management, a capacity-building workshop on data collection and assessment methods for shark species was held in the framework of the Common Oceans Tuna Project and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The workshop, held in La Jolla, California, US, on 15-16 May 2015, looked to boost data collection on sharks in the Eastern Pacific Ocean with a view to improving fisheries research and stock assessments.
With regard to ecosystems, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has announced the update of the Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VME) Database, a mapping interface supported by factsheets. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Secretariat has issued a notification to Parties, dated 22 June 2015, requesting information relating to national exercises to describe areas meeting the criteria for ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs). Submissions, due by 31 October 2015, will be made available as information for the forthcoming twentieth meeting of Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA).
Finally, the CBD Secretariat issued a notification to Parties dated 4 June 2015 requesting information on measures to avoid, minimize and mitigate the potential significant adverse impacts of anthropogenic underwater noise on marine and coastal biodiversity. The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) has highlighted this notification, as it will collate information to be used as background for the development of guidance on appropriate standards for noise pollution required in response to relevant CMS Resolutions. [GFCM Press Release] [Common Oceans News] [FAO News on VMW Database] [FAO News on GFCM] [CMS Notification][CBD Notification]