The Joint Workshop on data needed to assess the impact of fisheries on the marine ecosystem was held on the 28th April 2022, and organized by the Regional Coordination Group for the Mediterranean and Black Sea (RCG Med&BS) and the STREAMLINE regional grant in the context of the Recommendation n. 4 of the RCG Med&BS meeting 2021 and the Task 2.2 of STREAMLINE.
41 national experts attended the workshop from the ten Med&BS EU Member States (MS), together with the chair of the RCG Med&BS, Jurgen Mifsud (MAFA-DFA, Malta), and representatives of the EU Commission. The group met virtually on a Zoom platform kindly provided by the RCGs Secretariat, under the chairmanship of Alessandro Ligas (CIBM, Italy), coordinator of the STREAMLINE project.
The STREAMLINE project provided a presentation on the available knowledge on the monitoring of the incidental bycatch of vulnerable species, and on the collection and analysis of fish stomach contents in the Mediterranean and Black Sea.
The plenary discussion that followed the presentations allowed the group of participants agreeing on a roadmap to draft proposals for non-binding regional work plans (RWP) on the monitoring of the incidental bycatch of vulnerable species and on fish stomach contents collection and analysis in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. STREAMLINE experts will work on the draft proposals that will be submitted to the RCG Med&BS and the National Correspondents for their consideration. The review process will be performed by means of a written procedure, and a final agreed version will be completed by the end of July 2022. The final approval of the draft non-binding RWPs will be achieved during the RCG Med&BS annual meeting in September 2022.