Plácido Plaza, CIHEAM Secretary General, Andrés Perelló, Director of Casa Mediterraneo, Isabel Artime, Director General for Sustainable Fisheries at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Spain, Roger LLanes, Sec. for Agriculture & Rural Dev. at the Reg. Govt of Valencia, and Ignacio Díaz de la Guardia, Deputy-Director General for Multilateral Economic Affairs at MFA of Spain.
Experts and representatives of 9 Mediterranean countries have gathered in Alicante on October 14th to take part in the conference organized by CIHEAM, CIHEAM Zaragoza and Casa Mediterráneo to seek solutions and enhance cooperation in order to overcome challenges in fisheries, aquaculture and coastal zone management.
Alicante, 14 October 2022.- On October 14th, Alicante has been the capital of the Mediterranean in coastal zone management and fisheries, hosting an international conference organized by CIHEAM, together with their headquarters in Spain - CIHEAM Zaragoza, and Casa Mediterráneo. The event has brought together experts and representatives from 9 Mediterranean countries (Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia) to seek solutions and strengthen cooperation, in order to face the challenges in Mediterranean fisheries, aquaculture and coastal zone management. The presentations delivered in the programme and the discussions held between participants have put the spotlight on the need for specialized, multidisciplinary training and institutional support so as to achieve more sustainable fisheries management in the Mediterranean.
In the words of Raúl Compés, director of CIHEAM Zaragoza, in his opening speech: “We should remember that of all the semi-enclosed seas in Europe, the Mediterranean is the largest. It is surrounded by 22 countries that share a coastline stretching over 46 000 kilometres, three continents: Africa, Asia and Europe, and hosting 500 million inhabitants. Approximately one third of this population is concentrated in the coastal regions, giving rise to conflicting uses and considerable environmental pressure”.
During the opening session of the event, Compés was joined by Ignacio Díaz de la Guardia, subdirector general of Multilateral Economic Affairs of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation; Isabel Artime, director general of Sustainable Fisheries of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; Roger Llanes, secretary for Agriculture and Rural Development of the Council of Agriculture, Rural Development, Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition of the Regional Government of Valencia; Plácido Plaza, secretary general of CIHEAM; and Andrés Perelló, director of Casa Mediterráneo.
The importance of training, research and knowledge transfer has been one of the key messages of the opening session of this event, organized as part of CIHEAM’s 60th anniversary celebrations. As stated by Artime: “The future of fisheries depends on the promotion of knowledge, research and capacity-building of sea workers”.
New CIHEAM study on coastal zone management and fisheries in the Mediterranean
During the conference, CIHEAM presented the study they are conducting on coastal zone management and fisheries in the Mediterranean to determine the needs and opportunities for cooperation between regional institutions and member states.
Founded in 1962, CIHEAM is an intergovernmental organization working to strengthen cooperation and sustainable development in agriculture, food and fisheries in the Mediterranean. CIHEAM currently has 13 member countries (Albania, Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey).
Sixty years on, the founding principles of the organization are still relevant today. According to this new study presented at the conference, specialized, multidisciplinary training is considered to be a major requirement for specialists and managers involved in making Mediterranean fisheries management more sustainable.
Training needs are diverse and ever-changing. Adaptive legislation, a marine environment subject to heavy pressure from conflicting uses and impacts, fishing technology that is constantly evolving and needs to be selective with low environmental impact, illegal, undeclared and unregulated fishing, the need to provide an administrative and business framework for the sustainable development of aquaculture, generational replacement, acknowledgement of women in the fishing sector or how to ensure a market supply of healthy, sustainable seafood, are just some of the important issues in which fishery managers and professionals require training and constant updating of their knowledge.
Creation of Mediterranean networks for women in fisheries and fishing museums
The CIHEAM conference also featured two working sessions designed to create links and set up Mediterranean networks revolving around two strategic issues for the the sustainable development of the coastal communities in the region. The first session “Women and Fisheries” focused on how to improve the situation of women in fisheries, integrating them in the governance of the sector and encouraging actions of mutual cooperation on a Mediterranean scale. This would give rise to a Mediterranean network of women in fisheries.
The second session addressed the topic of fishing museums and looked into how to create common links between the sea museums of the Mediterranean, particularly those related to fishing communities, historical heritage, or the culture and values of artisanal fisheries. The museums of Tabarca and Santa Pola in Alicante and the Italian museum of Tricase are participating in this initiative.
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