ROME - The first positive sign on the Mediterranean and Black Sea fishing front arrives after decades: although 75% of fish stocks are still overexploited, between 2014 and 2018 this percentage decreased by over 10%.
This is what emerges in the new FAO report on the state of fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black Sea (SoMFi 2020), published every two years by the General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean (Gfcm).
In particular, hake in the Mediterranean and turbot in the Black Sea are improving.
"Even in the awareness that there is still a lot of work to be done to make the fishing sector sustainable", comments the executive secretary of the Gfcm, Abdellah Srour, "for the first time we are beginning to see a reversal of the most worrying trends".
These are the effects of the measures adopted in the two areas, says the Gfcm, recalling that to date there are 10 multi-year fishing management plans currently in force, involving over 4 thousand fishing boats.
According to the report, the contribution that the Mediterranean and Black Sea sector offers to the regional economies is 9.4 billion dollars, generating direct revenues, 225,000 jobs on board and a subsistence to 785,000 people.