The purpose of this study is to provide a snapshot of recreational fisheries legal frameworks within the Mediterranean with a view to promoting homogeneous and comprehensive recreational fisheries management in the Mediterranean. The study reviews the existing laws and regulations concerning recreational fisheries adopted by Mediterranean countries. It provides first an overview of relevant international initiatives regarding the management of recreational fisheries and a summary of marine recreational fisheries within the Mediterranean basin. The core of the study focuses on a comparative analysis of the main management measures adopted by States, including: (i) access regimes to fisheries resources: (ii) conservation measures: (iii) special recreational fisheries regulations: and (iv) monitoring, control and surveillance of recreational fisheries.

Marine recreational fisheries are an integral part of Mediterranean and Black Sea coastal life and are commonly practiced throughout the region. Recreational fisheries also represent an important driver of coastal tourism, which constitutes one of the region’s most important maritime sectors in terms of gross value added and employment. However, despite their ubiquity and potential socio-economic contribution, recreational fisheries are a data-poor sector and can vary widely from one country to another, thus impairing proper consideration of the recreational fisheries sector in policy-making and undermining efforts towards sustainable fisheries management at the regional level. The main goal of this handbook is therefore to provide a clear methodological framework to allow Mediterranean and Black Sea countries to implement suitably harmonized sampling and survey monitoring schemes for recreational fisheries. This handbook establishes a minimum set of necessary information for monitoring recreational fisheries, while, at the same time, allowing for flexibility to accommodate national specificities and data collection needs. It also provide guidance on the data analysis process as well as advice to successfully engage stakeholders in the data collection process.

Recreational or sports fishing is a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide and in many countries represents an important social and cultural activity. In some regions, it also contributes significant income to tourism and tackle businesses. In addition to its importance from a social and economic standpoint, the impact of recreational fishing on the environment and on food webs can often be substantial. This important book represents the major output from the 4th World Recreational Fishing Conference held in Norway in June 2005. The conference focused on several topics and targeted all stakeholders in the recreational fishing sector, including researchers, managers, NGO representatives and businesses. This book reflects that diversity, encompassing a variety of approaches within its carefully selected and fully peer-reviewed chapters. Global Challenges in Recreational Fisheries is an essential purchase for fisheries managers, multidisciplinary fisheries scientists, marine and freshwater biologists, ecologists and environmental scientists. The book is highly relevant for graduate university courses in fisheries management and fisheries sciences. Libraries in all universities, government fish and wildlife agencies and research establishments where these subjects are studied and taught will need copies of this important publication.

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]

This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact.

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 2023 special edition of the GFCM’s flagship publication, The State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries, updates statistics and figures on the status and management of fisheries in the region and includes, for the first time, an overview of regional indicators on the aquaculture sector in Mediterranean and Black Sea countries. It aims to deliver useful and reliable data to a wide audience as an essential source of information on fisheries and aquaculture in the region and a key tool to support decision-making and monitor progress towards the goals set by the GFCM. The fifth instalment of its series, this publication covers topics of regional importance in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors over the course of seven chapters. Fleet status and capture fisheries production are the focus of the first two chapters, which include figures on fishing capacity and landings by country and fleet segment. Chapter three captures the human dimension behind the region’s fisheries through socioeconomic data on revenue and employment. In chapter four, information on discards is updated and categorized for the main fishing fleets in each GFCM subregion, along with details on the species that make up this important component of the catch. Chapter five reviews the status of fisheries resources, especially regional trends and trends in priority species, while chapter seven summarizes relevant existing and new adopted measures towards the sustainability of key fisheries and the protection of vulnerable ecosystems. Aquaculture is included in this edition for the first time, described in terms of volume and socioeconomic indicators in chapter six.

The 2018 edition of The State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries (SoMFi 2018), the flagship publication of the GFCM, provides a comprehensive overview of regional and subregional trends in Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries. Bringing together data and indicators submitted by GFCM contracting parties and cooperating non- contracting parties on stock status, national catches, fleet and socio-economic aspects as well as information obtained from other sources, SoMFi 2018 aims to provide objective, reliable and up-to-date information to a wide audience and support decision-making in fisheries. SoMFi 2018 is divided into eight chapters. The first analyses the current composition of the fishing fleet, including information on fleet capacity, vessel types and age classes. Next comes a detailed breakdown of overall capture fishery production with comparisons of the latest figures to data from previous years, highlighting significant changes and trends. The report then looks at what this means for regional economies and for the livelihoods of the people who depend on the fisheries sector. As small-scale fisheries make up a large majority of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries, they receive special focus. SoMFi 2018 also provides the most detailed assessment yet of the state of fishery resources in the region. It shows the current status of the stocks, including those most at risk from overfishing, and looks at related issues like discards and incidental catches of vulnerable species. The report then highlights GFCM’s strategic efforts to build long-term sustainability, as it works with its stakeholders to sustainably manage fisheries and improve coastal livelihoods across the region. Finally, SoMFi 2018 concludes with an overview of the important role fisheries have to play in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, maintaining healthy ecosystems and productive fisheries.

This third edition of the State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries provides a comprehensive overview of the status of fisheries in the region, looking at their main features and trends, in order to better inform their management and better examine current and future challenges that they will face in the near future. The aim of this report is to produce a document that could provide useful analysis and direction for decision-making and future action. In this respect, this publication also represents a convenient source of information for the FAO Committee on Fisheries and offers a practical complement to the data provided in the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture published by the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department. This volume includes seven chapters divided into two sections: a first part on the status and trends of different aspects of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries, including fleet, catches, socio-economic variables and bycatch, and a second part that focuses on the management of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries, including an overview on small-scale fisheries. This report is based to a large extent on the most up-to-date data available submitted by GFCM contracting and cooperating non-contracting parties, including information on stock status, national catches, fleet and socio-economic information up to 2018. It is also complemented with information from other sources.