The recovery of fish stocks in the Mediterranean and Black Seas is showing signs of turning around

The overexploitation of fish stocks in the Mediterranean and Black Sea marine ecosystems and fisheries resources may finally ease after decades of increasing pressure, according to a new report from the General Committee on Fisheries in the Mediterranean (GFCM).
According to FAO's most recent two-yearly report, The State of Fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black Seas (SoMFi 2020), while 75 per cent of fish stocks are still affected by overfishing, this proportion fell by more than 10 per cent between 2014 and 2018, with a similar decline in development rates.
report said fish stocks with relatively high biomass have doubled since the last version of SoMFi in 2018, taking into account the newly assessed stocks.
while most fish stocks are still overexploited, GFCM shows that this is the first time in decades that positive trends have been reported, with fish stocks such as Mediterranean cod and Black Sea d'ath showing signs of recovery.
reportedly disclosed estimates that the total annual economic value of the Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries was $9.4 billion (7.7 billion euros), providing some 225,000 boat jobs.
while small-scale fisheries account for the majority of fisheries in the region (83 per cent of the total number of fishing vessels and 57 per cent of fishing jobs), they account for only 15 per cent of total catches in the region.
-scale fishermen also earn less than 30 per cent of total fisheries revenue.
GFCM membership includes 23 Parties: Albania, Algeria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, EU, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey, as well as five non-parties to cooperation: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Jordan, Moldova and Ukraine.
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