Black Sea countries share the same stocks, but each conducts its own survey-at-sea programmes, not always employing the same methodologies and fishing gear.
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) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has spearheaded recent efforts towards this end by implementing a wide range of activities.
Standardizing protocols for effective resource management
Black Sea countries share the same stocks, but each conducts its own survey-at-sea programmes, not always employing the same methodologies and fishing gear. To bridge these differences, the GFCM, within the framework of BlackSea4Fish, has led the process of standardizing existing survey protocols. This work is crucial for collating country results into comprehensive datasets, facilitating joint analyses and comparisons.
Long-term international collaboration is key to developing and implementing unified protocols.
"Regional cooperation is fundamental to strengthen dialogue, address shared challenges, and seize opportunities for the Black Sea. The European Union stands proud to provide financial support to many activities that allow to advance towards ensuring sustainable fisheries and sustainable aquaculture growth while safeguarding our environment," said Valérie Lainé, Head of the EU Delegation to the GFCM, European Commission.
Starting in 2020, the GFCM has implemented standardized scientific beam trawl surveys for rapa whelk in Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Türkiye and Ukraine, collecting vital information on the biomass and abundance of this iconic species in a harmonized manner. Age reading workshops with regional experts have used the data collected on the whelk's size and distribution to investigate its age composition and better inform stock assessments, with the main objective of achieving sustainable levels of exploitation, as well as maintaining the stock at maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and protecting the socioeconomic viability of its fisheries.
In the wake of the rapa whelk surveys, the five countries participated in the drafting of a standardized protocol for demersal surveys in the Black Sea. Building upon existing protocols, such as the European Union MEDITS protocol, this work resulted in the International Bottom Trawl Survey (iBotS) manual that has guided the implementation of joint standardized demersal trawl survey test trials in 2023. Black Sea countries are now gradually implementing this protocol when conducting demersal surveys in their national waters, which will greatly facilitate analysing the results together.
The primary objective of standardized demersal surveys is to collect data on the distribution, abundance and size composition of the population of four GFCM priority species (turbot, piked dogfish, red mullet and whiting) and on data-limited diadromous fish (sturgeons). Overall, the surveys provide a fishery-independent snapshot of demersal species, better informing an overall understanding of stock status.
"Our work reveals that standardizing demersal trawl surveys will significantly enhance the quality of scientific advice for fisheries management in the region," said Murat Dağteki̇n from the Central Fisheries Research Institute of Trabzon (SUMAE).
Currently, Black Sea countries and the GFCM are working towards standardizing acoustic surveys, which use sound waves to assess the biomass and spatial distribution of small pelagic species.
Management-oriented research
The GFCM is addressing specific needs for the management of key fisheries and the conservation of vulnerable species and ecosystems in the Black Sea.
It has adopted a step-by-step approach to gather essential information on piked dogfish, which will support the development of adequate management measures. Experts are conducting awareness-raising activities to highlight the vulnerable status of the species and ensure proper handling of bycaught individuals, as well as field studies 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 Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania and Türkiye.
Strengthening the net: compliance advances in Black Sea fisheries
Both turbot and piked dogfish have been impacted by overfishing. The GFCM introduced management measures for piked dogfish in 2015 and a multiannual management plan for turbot in 2017, with measures such as annual quotas and enhanced monitoring, control, and surveillance to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. A key step was the 2015 recommendation on measures to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing in turbot fisheries, reinforced in 2023 by a catch documentation scheme.
Following the 2018 signing of the Sofia Ministerial Declaration, the GFCM has assisted several Black Sea countries in fulfilling the technical requirements established by its decisions, including in issues related to vessel tracking, such as vessel monitoring systems (VMS). Through the FishEBM BS project, 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.
The European Union and its Member States, namely Romania and Bulgaria, as well as Türkiye, have also maintained Compliance category 1 – the highest rating for compliance with GFCM decisions – for three straight years, showcasing the commitment of all GFCM Black Sea contracting parties in implementing an effective culture of compliance.
From hub to sea: how Aquaculture Demonstration Centres are helping restore turbot and sturgeon stocks
Aquaculture Demonstration Centres (ADCs) are one of the GFCM's most important tools to promote sustainable aquaculture in the Black Sea. Through these specialized hubs, the sector can share knowledge, promote technical cooperation and increase stakeholder capacities at the subregional level.
The centres promote capacity development through activities such as training, including on turbot and sturgeon farming and restocking. As an example, during the International Symposium on Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (SOFAS 2023), held in Trabzon, Türkiye – where one of the ADCs is based – participants conducted field sampling of the sediment and water column in proximity to aquaculture cages and took part in the release of turbot and sturgeon.
In the coming months, new ADC activities will take place, focusing on shellfish farming in Romania. A team of experts from ADC Romania has been trained in the Adriatic Sea to apply shellfish farming technologies to the Black Sea, and they have just implemented a pilot longline for oyster cultivation in Constanta, Romania.
While significant progress has been made, ensuring sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in the Black Sea remains a challenge. The GFCM continues to promote regional cooperation, which is key to fostering healthier marine ecosystems and more resilient fishing communities across the region.
The activities were organized thanks to the financial support of the European Union, main donor to the GFCM, as well as the support provided by the Global Environmental Facility and the technical and in-kind contribution of experts from the region and beyond.