General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean [COPEMED]
The objectives of FAO COPEMED Project are the advice, technical support and establishment of cooperation networks to facilitate coordination to support fisheries management in the Mediterranean.
COPEMED area covers the Western and Central sub-regions of the Mediterranean. Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Malta, Italy, France and Spain have adhered to the Project. The project began at the end of 1996. It was financed by Spain through the AECI (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional) for a duration of 5 years.
Through its activities COPEMED facilitated, in particular, the works of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) and of it Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC). This regional cooperation allows the formulation of recommendations and the definition of scientific criteria for a better management of the exploited resources in the Mediterranean.
The COPEMED Project was born in 1996 for the Advice, Technical Support and Establishment of Co-operation Networks to facilitate Co-ordination to Support Fisheries Management in the Mediterranean (western and central Mediterranean in its initial stage). Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Malta, Italy, France and Spain have accepted to take part in the Project.
The basic objective of the COPEMED project is to widen scientific knowledge through a better international co-operation and to enhance co-ordination, especially with and between the countries of the southern riviera. To this effect, the maximum support from all the existing international organisations involved in Mediterranean matters is required. This will contribute to a more efficient performance of the GFCM and to the completion of its objectives. Hence, COPEMED is a project whose target is to facilitate the co-ordination between FAO’s normative and operative functions.
Steering Committee
The project is supported by a Steering Committee made up of FAO experts and the Directors / representatives of the national scientific institutions involved, which are the following:
Morocco: Institut National de Recherche Halieutique (INRH)
Algeria: Secretaire d’Etat chargé de la Pêche
Tunisia: Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer (INSTM)
Libya: Marine Biological Research Centre (MBRC)
Malta: Directorate General of Fisheries and Aquaculture
Italy: Direzione Generale della Pesca e dell’Acquacoltura
France: Institut Français pour l’Explotation de la Mer (IFREMER)
Spain: Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO)
FAO: Fisheries Department and Operations Division
The Steering Committee is responsible for:
revising the work schedule;
defining the research and training priorities;
avoiding over-lapping with previous international co-operation experiments in the COPEMED sub-region;
deciding on the most adequate strategy to guarantee, in each country, the direct implication of the Administration and the fishing industry.
Scientific Advisory Committee
As part of its restructuring, the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) decided to establish a Scientific Advisory Committee to replace the former Committee on Fisheries Management, in order to provide advice on technical and scientific bases for decisions concerning fisheries conservation and management in the Mediterranean.
The Scientific Advisory Committee is made up of specialists nominated for their expertise and able to formulate recommendations based on purely scientific considerations.
In 2002, the SAC wass divided into four sub-committees:
- SC on Economic and Social Sciences
- SC on Marine environment and Ecosystems
- SC on Statistics and Information
- SC on Stock Assessment
General SAC documents:
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Report of the Fourth Session of the GFCM Scientific Advisory Committee
4-7 June 2001, Athens (Greece)
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Report of the Working Group on Management Units 23-25 January 2001, Alicante (Spain)
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Report of the Third Session of the GFCM Scientific Advisory Committee
2-5 May 2000, Madrid (Spain)
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Report of the Second Session of the GFCM Scientific Advisory Committee
7-10 Juny 1999, Rome (Italy)
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Report of the First Session of the GFCM Scientific Advisory Committee
23-26 March 1999, Rome (Italy)-
List of papers presented at the Twenty-fourth Session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, 12-15 July 1999, Alicante, Spain. List of Documents
SC on Stock Assessment documents:
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Report of the 2001 Session
15-18 May, Rome (italy)
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Report of the Working Group on Small Pelagic Species
Kavala, Greece, 27-30 March 2001
- Report of the 2nd Session of the Working Group on Demersal Fisheries
13-16 March 2001, Tunis (Tunisia)
Some of the works presented during this Working group are included here below:
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Stock assessment of Sole Solea aegyptiaca in Gabes Gulf
by Jarboui O., Ghorbei M., Bradai M.N., Elabed A.
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Ecobiologie et évaluation du stock de sparaillon Diplodus annularis des côtes tunisiennes
by Jarboui O., Ghorbei M., Bradai M.N., Elabed A., Bouain A.
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Stock assessment of the French-Spanish shared stock of hake (Merluccius merluccius) in the gulf of Lions: a preliminary comparative approach.
by French-Spanish Working Group IFREMER-IEO-CSIC(ICM-CNR/ITPP
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Report of the First Session of the Working Group on Demersal Fisheries
21-23 March 2000, Sète (France)
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Report of the First Session of the Working Group on Small Pelagics
1-3 March 2000, Fuengirola (Spain)
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A compilation of information on stock assessment in the GFCM areas presented in standard forms.
Fabio Fiorentino (2000): ED/TN/FF/4/0600/REL.1: 109 p.
SC on Economic and Social Sciences documents:
SC on Statistics and Information documents:
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Report of the Working Group on Operational Units 18-19 April 2001, Ancona (Italy)
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Operational Units – A Preliminary Study
Document presented at the 2nd Session of the Sub Committee
Madrid, Spain, 26 – 28 April 2000
SC on Marine Environment and Ecosystems documents:
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Further Reading
A compilation of information on stock assessment in the GFCM areas presented in standard forms. ED/TN/FF/4/0600/REL.1: 109 p. (2000) – F. Fiorentino
A review of studies of fishing gear selectivity in the Mediterranean (2001) – P. Stewart
Analysis of the Mediterranean (including North Africa) deep-sea shrimps fishery: catches, effort and economics – Final Report – September 2000 (EC, DG XIV, 97/0018) (2000) – F. Sardá Amills
Application Ressource – Module ‘Assistant pour Analyse Spatiale’ (2000) – A. Bensch, F.J. Ramos Salas
Application Ressources – Modèle de données (2000) – A. Bensch, D. Berthier
Appui pour la réalisation d’un recensement sur la pêche artisanale en Méditerranée marocaine (1999) – A. Damiano
Artisanal Fisheries in Libya – Census of Fishing Vessels and Inventory of Artisanal Fishery Metiers (2000) – M. Lamboeuf
COPEMED Workshop on the use of GIS as an assistance tool for decision makers in fisheries management – A. Bensch, M. Taconet
El modelo bioeconómico M5 (1999) – J. Lleonart Aliberas, F.X. Maynou Hernández, J. Salat Umbert, S. Touzeau, R. Franquesa Artes, P.A. Oliver Reus, A. Carbonell Quetglas, J. Pena
Estudio de evaluación de viabilidad del establecimiento de una base de datos de indicadores socioeconómicos para la pesca en el Mediterráneo (1999) – R. Franquesa Artes, M. Malouli Idrissi, J.A. Alarcón Urbistondo
Etude de la pêcherie des bivalves sur la côte méditerranéenne marocaine: rapport (1999) – M.S. Shafee
Fisheries Management in the Mediterranean Sea: from GFCM Recommendations to its application. The Spanish case (1998) – J.A. Camiñas Fernández
Formation Systèmes de Gestion de Bases de données relationnelles – Centre Royal de Télédétection Spatiale Rabat (Maroc) (2000) – A. Bensch, A. Kriouile, J. Ouachchama
Frame survey on the distribution, composition and activity of the gulf of Lions small scale fishing fleet. (1999) – A. Guillou, V. Crespi
Inventario de la Pesca Artesanal en España Mediterránea (2000-2001) (2001) – J.A. Alarcón Urbistondo
Inventory of Artisanal Fishery Communities in the Western-Central Mediterranean (2001) – R. Coppola
Malta Fisheries – J.I. de Leiva, C. Busuttil, M. Darmanin, M. Camilleri
Mediterranean and BlackSea Fisheries (2000) – A.R. FAO staff
Operational Units – A Preliminary Study (2000) – M. Camilleri, R. Coppola, J.I. de Leiva
Pêche des bivalves sur la côte méditerranéenne marocaine: catalogue d’espèces exploitées et d’engins utilisés (1999) – M.S. Shafee
Recommendations of different GFCM meetings – J.I. de Leiva
Report on the COPEMED / IMEDEA Workshop on DolphinFish Fishery Sampling (2000) – B. Morales Nin
Review of Mediterranean Fisheries Situation and Management – Informes y Estudios COPEMED Nº1 (1999) – R. Robles Pariente
Review of the Maltese Fishery Statistical System and options for its improvement (1999) – R. Coppola
Spatial Fishing Effort Modelling Network – Conceptual & Methodological Document – Workshop I : 11-14/04/2000 – Montpellier (2001) – F. Carocci, G. Le Corre, A. Bensch, L. Drapeau, F. Corsi, J. Morales
Spatial Fishing Effort Modelling Network – Workshop II: 5 – 7 /06/2001 – IFREMER Sète – France (2001) – A. Bensch, F. Carocci, F. Corsi, G. Le Corre, C. MENDE
Study on the biology and fishing of tuna and tuna like species in the Spanish and Moroccan coasts of the Mediterranean sea and the area under the influence of the strait of Gibraltar (1999) – J.M. de la Serna Ernst, A. Srour, M.P. Rioja Garay
The Mediterranean dolphinfish fishery from the management point of view (2000) – E. Massutí Pascual
Towards the Use of Geographic Information Systems as a Decision Support Tool for the Management of Mediterranean Fisheries – Informes y Estudios COPEMED Nº4 (2000) – A. Bensch, M. Taconet
Training Course: Principal commercial species in the Mediterranean and Current fisheries management practices used in the Mediterranean – Higher National Diploma in Fisheries Science – From 2nd April to 6th April 2001 (2001) – P.A. Oliver Reus, J.I. de Leiva
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