Technical Guidelines for Scientific Surveys in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea: Procedures and Sampling for Demersal (Bottom and Beam) trawl Surveys and Pelagic Acoustic Surveys

By Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

In the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, the assessment of demersal stocks mainly relies on scientific surveys (bottom and beam trawl) while the assessment of pelagic stocks is essentially based on acoustic surveys using acoustic techniques with mid-water trawling. These routine surveys-at-sea provide essential information, which in turn are crucial to fine-tune the assessments of the status of resources and to estimate more precisely indicators at the population and fish community levels. However, survey practices differ from one subregion to another, each approach having its own strengths and limitations. In addition, there is still a lack of large-scale standardized surveys aimed at analysing the diversity and distribution of the main demersal and pelagic species across the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. One way of tackling this issue is to carry out international scientific surveys covering the main demersal and pelagic stocks based on a common methodology. The methodology presented in this publication aims at supporting the planning and implementation of regional demersal (bottom and beam) trawl and pelagic acoustic surveys. It can be useful for the implementation of new surveys-at-sea in areas where demersal trawl and pelagic acoustic surveys are not regularly carried out. It can also contribute to increasing comparability between existing surveys thanks to the standardization of methods, sampling of catches and data recording and analysis. Finally, it represents a valuable tool to define minimum requirements towards sustainability and management objectives at the regional and subregional level.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
• Release date: Aug 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9789251327685

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Carpentieri, P., Bonanno, A. and Scarcella, G. 2020. Technical guidelines for scientific surveys in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Papers No. 641. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8870en

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ISSN 2070-7010 [Print]

ISSN 2664-5408 [Online]

ISBN 978-92-5-132555-1

E-ISBN 978-92-5-132768-5 (EPUB)

© FAO, 2020

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Preparation of this document

These guidelines have been prepared by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to address the priorities identified by Mediterranean and Black Sea countries in the context of existing international commitments and regional strategies. In particular, Target 1 of the mid-term strategy (2017–2020) towards the sustainability of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries (mid-term strategy) aims at reversing the declining trend of fish stocks through strengthened scientific advice in support of management. This document contributes to the objective of this strategy aimed at enhancing knowledge on Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries through regional surveys-at-sea, namely acoustic surveys for pelagic species and bottom and beam trawl surveys for demersal species.

As it is difficult to gather information on the status of fish stocks in the context of multispecies and multigear fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea, fisheries independent data sources obtained through scientific surveys are very useful to acquire direct information on the state and dynamics of fish stocks and ecosystems and to improve the assessments based on the analysis of fishery-dependent data. Standardized time series are essential to provide information on the spatial and temporal variations in the abundance of commercial and non-commercial species as well as on the demographic attributes and other ecological indices of these species.

Within the GFCM, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (SAC) and the Working Group on the Black Sea (WGBS) have highlighted the lack of survey data for some areas in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and the need to harmonize the production and collection of such data across the region. Building upon the protocols already in place in the European Union – namely the Mediterranean International Bottom Trawl Survey (MEDITS), the Solea Monitoring Survey (SoleMon) and the Mediterranean International Acoustic Survey (MEDIAS) – these technical guidelines provide a framework for the implementation of harmonized regional and subregional scientific surveys in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea using a standardized methodology aimed at producing comparable results.

Experts in bottom, beam trawl and acoustic surveys, namely Giuseppe Scarcella and Angelo Bonanno, were tasked with developing these guidelines under the overall coordination of Paolo