The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) and FAO are organizing, in partnership with CIHEAM Bari, MedPAN, WWF and in collaboration with the Government of Malta ,the First Regional Symposium on Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, from 27 to 30 November 2013 in Malta.

For the first time in the region, national administrations, international organizations, fisheries scientists, NGOs, fishers communities, stakeholders and civil society will sit around the same table to discuss issues of common interest to ensure a sustainable future for the small-scale fisheries sector in the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

The importance of small-scale fisheries for the whole area and the many challenges they are facing indicate that the time has come to launch an in-depth reflection on how to develop common strategies, synergies and cooperation to support their sustainable development. Building upon a participatory and bottom-up approach, the symposium will offer a unique opportunity to address recurring issues and to find common answers to secure future prospects for small-scale fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. This event will be a forum where all interested stakeholders will have a chance to bring their opinions, ideas and expertise to the fore.

At the end of the symposium, it is expected that participants will endorse common conclusions on how to maintain sustainable small-scale fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and identify crucial priorities for the design of a roadmap towards the development of small-scale fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea based on an ecosystem approach. An opportunity to meet actors of the small-scale fisheries world!

www.ssfsymposium.org

Community-Led or Community-Driven Local Development?

In recent years, the World Bank has invested significantly in evaluating its Community-Driven Development (CDD) programmes. This workshop was organised by the European Commission and FARNET in Brussels on November 8th 2013 with a view to exchanging on both approaches and building up on mutual benefits.

 

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The spawning aggregations of groupers and snappers in the Caribbean - the reproductive gatherings necessary to create the next generation - help maintain healthy stocks of these species, but are currently being heavily fished, causing significant reductions.

Stocks of many aggregating species and particularly groupers in the Wider Caribbean Region continue to decline. The CFMC/WECAFC/OSPESCA/CRFM* Working Group on Spawning Aggregations, which met in Miami, USA (29-31 October 2013), recorded reduced numbers of fish in many aggregations and the relatively smaller size of most remaining aggregations. Smaller aggregations of adults are producing fewer and fewer fish to replenish the region’s fisheries.

Using scientific methods and the best scientific information available, the status of Nassau Grouper (along with Goliath Grouper and several other species) stocks in the Wider Caribbean Region can be considered “overexploited” and some stocks can even be regarded as “depleted”. The two groupers are already observed to be threatened with extinction if such trends continue, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Flora and Fauna.

The actual number of fishers targeting spawning aggregations (as opposed to species that have the aggregating habit but are fished outside of their aggregations) is low. Consequently, while management aimed to conserve spawning aggregations may reduce short-term profits for few fishers, it should ensure long-term sustainable fisheries for the great many other fishers that fish outside of aggregations.

The Working Group asserted that it is vital to maintain healthy groupers and snapper fisheries in support of food security and to recognize the social and economic value of these fisheries for coastal communities in the region. And the Working Group calls for a regional closed season and concerted action by the range states of these fish species and recommends to WECAFC, CFMC and the SPAW (Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife) Protocol action to stop further declines.

* This is a joint Working Group of the Caribbean Fisheries Management Council (CFMC), Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC), Organization for the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector of the Central American Isthmus (OSPESCA) and the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM).

Global Environment Facility (GEF) CEO Naoko Ishii today approved a project coordinated by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to improve the health and sustainability of tuna fisheries worldwide by reducing illegal catch and supporting related marine ecosystems and species.