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Promoting an ecosystem approach to fisheries in the Black Sea through strengthened cooperation

By IW:LEARN

November 26^th, 2024

Climate varies significantly across the Black Sea, and environmental changes can be sudden, driving fish to undertake long-range, transboundary migrations for feeding, spawning, and overwintering. Integrated and internationally coordinated resource management strategies are therefore essential to ensure the sustainable management of marine resources in this particular environment shared by several countries.

The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) has scaled up efforts towards this end through the GEF-funded Fisheries and ecosystem-based management for the Black Sea (FishEBM BS) project. This project not only builds on existing regional cooperation frameworks but also deepens collaboration among relevant stakeholders to promote sustainable fisheries practices, including by bringing together project beneficiary countries (Georgia, Türkiye and Ukraine) and other riparian states of the Black Sea. By fostering synergies with ongoing regional GFCM initiatives, the FishEBM BS project leverages the expertise and resources of local, regional and international partners through coordinated research, policy recommendations, and capacity-building activities toward sustainable fisheries and marine biodiversity conservation.

Experts from the Black Sea region testing fishing gear ©FAO-GFCM/Tamer Günal

Standardized approaches towards coordinated management

Building on past experience related to the standardization of surveys-at-sea within the GFCM area of application and in particular on rapa whelk in the Black Sea, the FishEBM BS project is continuing to support the implementation of standardized demersal trawl surveys, while also initiating the standardization of pelagic acoustic surveys, including through joint country activities (e.g. between Türkiye and Georgia) aiming to harmonize frequencies used in the echosounder equipment that is essential for this kind of survey. Similarly, the project is expanding, to additional species of relevance, the work done to date on standardized age-reading protocols, also ensuring capacity development. This collaborative effort not only will improve data comparability across the region but is also expected to improve the accuracy of stock assessments and ultimately support sustainable fisheries management for the region’s priority species, including highly valuable Black Sea anchovy, which is critical for regional economies.

Management-oriented research

The GFCM, through the FishEBM BS project, is also addressing specific needs for the management of key fisheries and the conservation of vulnerable species and ecosystems in the Black Sea.

Collecting data on sturgeon ©FAO-GFCM/ Murat Dağteki̇n

It has adopted a step-by-step approach to gather essential information on piked dogfish, which will eventually support the development of adequate management measures. Experts are conducting a tagging exercise to better identify the spatial ecology and habitat use of the species as well as implementing awareness-raising activities with fishers to highlight the vulnerability of the species and ensure proper handling of bycaught individuals, thus reducing mortality. Similar field studies are also underway for other critically endangered species, such as sturgeons and the threatened harbour porpoise.

These initiatives encompass onboard data collection, interviews with local fishers, and knowledge sharing within fishing communities across the Black Sea beneficiary countries.

Collecting testimonies from fishers in Türkiye ©FAO-GFCM/ Hüseyin Özbilgin

Inspection activities © Türkiye Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry General Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture

Strengthening the net: compliance advances in Black Sea fisheries

Long-term international collaboration is essential for developing and implementing unified protocols and fostering a culture of compliance. With overfishing affecting many species in the Black Sea, the GFCM has introduced measures to strengthen monitoring and surveillance to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The GFCM, through the FishEBM BS project, is assisting Black Sea beneficiary countries in fulfilling the technical requirements established by its decisions, including in issues related to vessel tracking, such as vessel monitoring systems (VMS). In particular, a collaboration with Türkiye has been focusing on enhancing VMS capabilities to strengthen monitoring and control of larger vessels, while piloting technologies to support the upgrade of the Fisheries Monitoring Centre. Once fully implemented, this activity will benefit Türkiye and the entire region by enabling more effective real-time data collection, fostering collaboration and transparency as well as improving compliance.

The coordinated efforts of Black Sea countries, supported by the GFCM through the FishEBM BS project, are paving the way toward a more sustainable future for regional fisheries, safeguarding biodiversity and livelihoods that rely on these vital resources.

About the project: The “Fisheries and ecosystem-based management for the Black Sea” project (FishEBM BS) aims to reverse the overexploitation of select commercial living marine resources by enhancing the capacity of Black Sea countries to manage fisheries through the application of ecosystem-based management tools.

The FishEBM BS project is committed to strengthening Black Sea fisheries' productivity while ensuring their sustainability. The project includes a shift toward a more participatory approach to fisheries and a change in policy and management thinking by government agencies and stakeholder groups.