On the 27th April 2022, it was held the Joint Workshop on Recreational Fisheries 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. 3 of the RCG Med&BS meeting 2021 and the Task 2.2 of STREAMLINE.
The workshop was attended by 32 national experts from the ten Med&BS EU Member States (MS), the chair of the RCG Med&BS, Jurgen Mifsud (MAFA-DFA, Malta), and a representative 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.
For each MS, a brief presentation of the current implementation of the monitoring of recreational fisheries (RFs) under the national work plans was provided focussing on the methodological aspects. The STREAMLINE project provided a presentation on the results of the review of the available elements (and gaps) for the implementation of a regional approach in the Med&BS; in addition, the summary of the results of an online survey on RFs launched by STREAMLINE was also provided.
The plenary discussion that followed the presentations by each MS and STREAMLINE allowed the group of participants agreeing on a draft proposal for a non-binding regional work plan (RWP) on RFs in the Mediterranean and Black Sea and an associated roadmap. The draft proposal will be circulated by the RCG Med&BS Chairs among the National Correspondents, and will be considered, revised and finalized via written procedure before the RCG Med&BS annual meeting in September 2022, with the support of STREAMLINE. The final approval will be achieved during the RCG Med&BS annual meeting.