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.

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.

Women play active roles throughout the fisheries value chain in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, including participating in pre-harvest activities like vessel and gear construction and maintenance, harvest activities both on board fishing vessels and from shore, and post-harvest activities such as sorting, cleaning, processing and marketing the catch, as well as in activities associated with running the fishing business, such as bookkeeping. Furthermore, women are actively engaged throughout the region in fisheries research and fisheries administrations. Despite the wide and varied roles played by women in fisheries, their contributions to the sector are often not captured in official statistics and can therefore go unrecognized, reinforcing existing gender inequalities and potentially leading to inadvertent discrimination. At the same time, a lack of consideration of women working in the sector can also mean that their knowledge and experience is overlooked and not sufficiently profited from. Recognizing the importance of taking the roles, needs and experiences of women into account when addressing social, economic and environmental issues related to the fishing sector, this study aims at narrowing research gaps in the region regarding gender and fisheries, as well as supporting the commitments of Mediterranean and Black Sea countries to promoting gender equality.

This report summarizes the discussions held during the forty-fifth session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean and twelfth session of the Committee on Administration and Finance. During the session, progress in activities related to fisheries, aquaculture, compliance and other strategic activities was reviewed. The Commission adopted 17 binding recommendations and four resolutions related to fisheries management and conservation, aquaculture and compliance. Moreover, the Commission adopted the revised GFCM Rules of Procedure and approved the proposal for the appointment of the new GFCM Executive Secretary. Finally, the Commission adopted its programme of work for the next intersession and approved its autonomous budget for 2023, 2024 and 2025, as well as a number of strategic actions to be funded through extrabudgetary resources. The Commission also endorsed the new Bureau of the Committee on Administration and Finance and extended the mandate of the Bureau of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Aquaculture until 2024.

Illuminating Hidden Harvests: the contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development (hereinafter IHH) is a global study uncovering the contributions and impacts of small-scale fisheries through a multidisciplinary approach to data collection and analysis. The study provides information that quantifies and improves understanding of the crucial role of small-scale fisheries in the areas of food security and nutrition, sustainable livelihoods, poverty eradication and healthy ecosystems. It also examines gender equality as well as the nature and scope of governance in small-scale fisheries. The IHH study was carried out in support of the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines), themselves developed in recognition of the plight of small-scale fishers, fishworkers and associated communities and released as a contribution to the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022. The purpose of this report is to contribute to a more holistic understanding of what small-scale fisheries are, their importance, and why they are essential to efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By using this knowledge wisely within a human rights-based approach in line with the SSF Guidelines, and by empowering small-scale fishers and fishworkers, a more inclusive, equitable, sustainable and resilient small-scale scale fisheries subsector can be achieved. Realizing this goal would benefit hundreds of thousands in fishing communities and society at large. With this in mind, the IHH report is aimed at all those with a stake or an interest in the small-scale fisheries subsector, in particular decision-makers who are concerned with fisheries, poverty eradication, food security and nutrition, and sustainable development more generally. It is also addressed to small-scale fisheries actors themselves and those who support them.