Author: Monica Calabrò

The National Fisheries Data Collection Program (PNRDA), of that IRBIM CNR is coordinator, provides for the collection and management of biological, environmental, technical and socio-economic data needed for fisheries management purposes. It is formulated under the relevant EU legislation, establishing a Community framework for the collection, management and use of data in the fisheries sector and support for scientific advice related to the Common Fisheries Policy (Data Collection Framework – Regulation (EU) 2017/1004). The acquisition and management of this data is funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The fundamental purpose of this Programme is to provide national and european administrations, as well as regional fisheries management agencies such as the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean(GFCM)and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), with biological, environmental, technical and socio-economic data and appropriate tools to undertake actions and adopt management measures in line with the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The data to be collected cover a wide range of topics (biological, technical, environmental and socio-economic) and activities (professional, recreational, sport fishing and different types of fishing gear and methods). The work plan includes the procedures and methods to be used for the collection and analysis of data as well as for the estimation of their accuracy and precision. Protocols and methods for collecting and monitoring data are in accordance with quality standards established by international scientific institutions and regional fisheries management organisations.

For the year 2024, the start of the program was given through the Kick off meeting that took place at the Marconi Hall of the CNR headquarters. During the meeting, the activities planned for the year 2024 and some technical-administrative procedures of the Data Collection were presented; the structuring of the work in thematic Working Groups was also discussed. The meeting in Rome was attended by representatives of the CNR-IRBIM from the sites of Ancona, Messina and Mazara del Vallo, including the Director Gian Marco Luna and the coordinator of the PLNRDA Enrico Arneri, from the Ancona site. Present in the meeting room for the initial greetings were the President of the CNR Maria Chiara Carrozza, the Director of the Department of Earth System Sciences and Technologies for the Environment (CNR-Dsstta) Fabio Trincardi, and the Director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests (MASAF) Maria Vittoria Briscolini. Also present were several representatives of the program partners, such as AGER-Coldiretti, CIBM, Cnr-Ias, Cnr-Irea, Cnr-Irpps, COISPA, CONISMA, Federpesca, NISEA, Oceanis, Retemare and UNIMAR.

CNR-IRBIM participated in the second Forum on Fisheries Science in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea (FishForum), the largest scientific meeting dedicated to fisheries and related issues. The FishForum aims to promote discussion and cooperation between scientists and policymakers for the production of scientific advice, in order to better shape the future of fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black Sea and advance the region towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). CNR IRBIM researchers from Mazara del Vallo Sergio Vitale (Oral presentation) and Umberto Grande (Oral presentation) and from Ancona Alessandro Lucchetti (Oral presentation), Daniel Li Veli (Oral presentation) and Pamela Lattanzi (Poster) joined over 400 participants to discuss fisheries research from different perspectives: oceanographic, social and economic, for effective fisheries management. Among the colleagues who participated in the Fishforum there was also Enrico Arneri who participated in the round table “Expert roundtable: Fisheries research in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea”. Their scientific contributions were widely appreciated by the scientific community present at the event. Three themes were central to the event: better science for better advice, healthy seas and sustainable fisheries, and economic and technical innovation. In addition to these, a central topic was climate change, an issue of enormous importance for fisheries everywhere, and particularly in a region that is warming 20% faster than the global average. Several speakers addressed key aspects of the topic, including how to increase knowledge of the effects of ocean warming on regional fisheries and the potential adaptation strategies available. In particular, an agreement was reached to establish a network of climate experts dedicated to fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. From this LINK you can access the program and the contents of the forum.
Finally, Jade Millot, a French PhD student under the supervision of IRBIM colleague Mazara del Vallo Valentina Lauria, won for the best presentation in the “Early career scientist” category with an oral communication entitled “Vulnerable marine ecosystem conservation and spatial planning in the Mediterranean”.

The annual MEDITS (International bottom trawl survey in the Mediterranean) campaign has just ended. The MEDITS campaign aims to obtain baseline information on the biological status of most demersal fish stocks on a global scale in the Mediterranean Sea through systematic bottom trawl surveys. The project began in 1994 as part of the cooperation between several research institutes of four Mediterranean Member States (France, Greece, Italy and Spain) of the European Union. Over time, until the advent of the European Data Collection Framework (DCF) and Management for Fisheries, the MEDITS project was joined by new partners from Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Montenegro, Malta and Cyprus. This programme has been designed with the following basic aims: (i) contribute to the characterisation of bottom fisheries resources in the Mediterranean in terms of population distribution (relative abundance indices) and population structures (length distributions); (ii) provide data for the modelling the dynamics of the studied species. The overall goal was, and is, to conduct a joint scientific trawl survey in the Mediterranean in which all participants would use the same gear, sampling protocol and methodology. These protocols were defined taking into account the characteristics of the areas covered by the first survey, but also in a way that would easily allow for an expansion of the program to other areas of the Mediterranean. They include survey design, sampling tools (features and handling), information collected, data management up to the production of common standardized data analyses. IRBIM CNR is involved in this program with two of its sites, respectively IRBIM CNR in Mazara del Vallo for GSA16 (Geographical sub-area South of Sicily) and IRBIM CNR of Messina for GSA 10 (Geographical sub-area South and central Tyrrhenian sea), as part of the National Fisheries Data Collection Work Plan 2023 for the study of demersal resources and to evaluate the post-capture survival of elasmobranchs and bony fish.