The State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries 2023

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This 2023 special edition of the GFCM’s flagship publication, The State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries, updates statistics and figures on the status and management of fisheries in the region and includes, for the first time, an overview of regional indicators on the aquaculture sector in Mediterranean and Black Sea countries.

It aims to deliver useful and reliable data to a wide audience as an essential source of information on fisheries and aquaculture in the region and a key tool to support decision-making and monitor progress towards the goals set by the GFCM.

The fifth instalment of its series, this publication covers topics of regional importance in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors over the course of seven chapters. Fleet status and capture fisheries production are the focus of the first two chapters, which include figures on fishing capacity and landings by country and fleet segment.

Chapter three captures the human dimension behind the region’s fisheries through socioeconomic data on revenue and employment. In chapter four, information on discards is updated and categorized for the main fishing fleets in each GFCM subregion, along with details on the species that make up this important component of the catch.

Chapter five reviews the status of fisheries resources, especially regional trends and trends in priority species, while chapter seven summarizes relevant existing and new adopted measures towards the sustainability of key fisheries and the protection of vulnerable ecosystems. Aquaculture is included in this edition for the first time, described in terms of volume and socioeconomic indicators in chapter six.

 

Visit the FAO website for more information and download of the report

Bring European Maritime Day to your country in 2024!

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announcement poster European Maritime Day 2023

The European Maritime Day (EMD) 2024 is taking place again as a fully-fledged physical event, in Svendborg, Denmark on 30-31 May 2024. As every year, this will not be the only action to celebrate our seas and oceans and the sustainable blue economy.

EMD In My Country 2024 events will also take place all over Europe from 1 April until 31 October 2024.

In 2023, EMD In My Country was again, another great success, with almost 500 virtual, physical and hybrid events, covering all the sea basins of the EU!

Are you ready to submit your event(s) for 2024?

Fill in the online application form before 29 February 2024 and bring European Maritime Day 2024 to your country!

EMD In My Country 2024 will include physical, virtual and hybrid events that will take place from 1 April to 31 October 2024.

Submit your application – Deadline 29 February 2024

Analysis of the obstacles and opportunities for repurposing aged/unused offshore infrastructures : Deadline 20 September 2023

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Deadline: 20 September 2023
Budget: € 2.400.000
Countries: France, Italy, Malta, Spain, Portugal, algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania

Scope:
This topic is part of the call “Actions for the implementation of the Mission Restore our ocean and waters by 2030”, part of the Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON)
TOPIC ID: HORIZON-MISS-2023-OCEAN-01-07

Proposals under this topic should contribute to the Mission objective 3 – Sustainable, carbon-neutral and circular blue economy and are expected to analyse different options to decommission offshore platforms, considering marine conservation and ecosystem protection. Business models are also expected to be identified as well as related implications for decision making processes and social acceptance.

More information on the EC Funding and Tender opportunities website

Innovative nature-inclusive concepts to reconcile offshore renewables with ocean protection | Deadline: 20 September 2023

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Deadline: 20 September, 2023
Budget: €4.500.001
Countries: Algeria, France, Italy, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia

Scope:
Proposals under this topic should contribute to the Mission objective 3 – Sustainable, carbon-neutral and circular blue economy and are expected to identify existing related approaches and concepts, focus on multidisciplinary approaches and address innovative concepts, technologies and solutions, in a life-cycle perspective. Recommendations on long-term monitoring of the impacts are expected as well as biodiversity and ecosystem impact and risk assessment. The proposal should contribute to the development of standards and good practices to support decision making and planning processes.

More informationon the dedicated funding and tender opportunities page of the European Commission

Regional flagships projects supporting sustainable blue economy in EU sea basins | Deadline: 31 January 2023

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Deadline: 31 January, 2023
Budget: €3.400.000
Countries: France, Italy, Malta, Spain, Portugal, algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania

Scope:

The European Commission launched a new call for proposals for “Regional flagships projects supporting sustainable blue economy in EU sea basins”.

After the experience of last year focused on Coastal Tourism, in this occasion there are two lines for projects promoting a sustainable blue economy the Mediterranean:

This topic aims at contributing to the Goal 2 “A smart and resilient blue economy of the strategy” (Priority Sustainable consumption and production: ports and maritime transport) of the WestMED initiative. And it is totally aligned with the work of the WestMed Technical Group on Green Shipping.

This topic aims at contributing to the Goal 2 “A smart and resilient blue economy” of the WestMED Initiative (Priority 2.2. “Maritime Clusters Development”), by building up on clusters currently cooperating (e.g. WestMED Clusters Alliance).

You can find all the details at this link https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/funding-opportunities/calls-proposals/emfaf-call-proposals-regional-flagships-projects-supporting-sustainable-blue-economy-eu-sea-basins_en

 

The call is financed by the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF).

séminira cluster CMT-BIG2(sept-22) - with panel behind a table and screen in the back

Explorer la création d’un cluster maghrébin au Conférence MEDBLUE sur l’économie bleue durable

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Les clusters maritimes tunisien (CMT) et italien (BIG) ont organisés une journée de travail et une journée de visite sur le terrain à Tunis le 29 et 30 septembre 2022.

La première journée organisée en présentiel et avec des invités en ligne a été consacrée au renforcement de la coopération entre les deux clusters, à la présentation des gaps technologiques entre la rive nord et la rive sud de la Méditerranée, à la valorisation et digitalisation des ports de Livourne et Rades comme hubs logistiques stratégiques, les blue skills pour développer l’employabilité, la recherche et l’innovation et la gouvernance pour l’économie bleue dans la région.

Plusieurs autres thèmes ont été discutés et concernent la digitalisation des ports de plaisance, le développement de la ligne triangulaire (Tunisie, Malte, Italie) pour les mini-croisières, le développement du pescatourisme dans les ports de plaisance, le partenariat pour la bio-économie Green § blue et un rapport sur le workshop du 26,27 et 28 septembre à Tunis sur  MSPMED.

Plus de 50 personnes ont assisté à cette journée en plus des connections et interventions en ligne. La présence du Hub National Mauritanie, d’un représentant algérien, marocain et libyen a permis d’examiner l’état d’avancement de la création de cluster dans chaque pays et la création du cluster maritime maghrébin.

La journée du 30 septembre est consacrée à la visite de l’Office de la Marine Marchande se des Ports avec l’état des lieux de l’accord de partenariat de l’office et l’autorité portuaire de Livourne, la visite du port de la Goulette et du port de Rades avec des réunions avec les différents intervenants.

 

Pour plus d’infomations: Salem Miladi – Hub National Tunisie

event announcement poster with a 3 p[eople working on a project proposal of people

Effective Project Proposal Development for EU Funding | 29 june 2021 | Online

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This pilot training session is aimed at Blue Economy stakeholders in the Southern Mediterranean who are interested in acquiring basic knowledge and skills for EU project proposal development.

The training will include sessions on the logical framework approach, do’s and don’ts in the preparation of these type of projects, consortium building, as well as concrete examples of on-going blue economy related projects counting with a presence of Southern Mediterranean partners.

This event has passed.  If interested and you would like more information – please contact us

ship in port

Promoting Sustainable Transport in the western Mediterranean

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Through the establishment of a cooperation framework within the western Mediterranean sub-sea basin, the WestMED initiative’s Technical Group on Sustainable Transport and Green Shipping aims to promote dialogue among key actors and contribute to the deployment of innovative solutions for clean maritime transport.

Following the conclusions of the Steering Committee of Rabat in October 2019, the WestMED Assistance Mechanism set up this Technical Group (TG) in order to address maritime transport environmental challenges and identify potential opportunities for its sustainable development, including funding and project development.

The TG became operational as of April 2020, and four meetings with relevant stakeholders have taken place since then, involving Port Authorities and Ministries for each WestMED country.

To support the discussions in each TG meeting, dedicated National Groups have been established in all concerned countries, with a larger group of national stakeholders being consulted under the coordination of the WestMED National Hubs.

A specific Action Plan including a number of potential project ideas is currently under preparation. In parallel, a review of the most suitable financing mechanisms to support such concept is undergoing.

 

network symbol photo with pieces on board with connected circles

Towards the establishment of an efficient network of WestMED Maritime Clusters

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Building upon a strong networking activity during its first two years of implementation, the WestMED Assistance Mechanism is promoting the organization of a closed meeting on November 30th to pave the way for the development of an integrated maritime clusters network within the Western Mediterranean.

Maritime clusters are essential actors in fostering the aggregation of local SMEs and large companies across a range of sectors in the Blue Economy, including through synergies with enterprises involved in in-land activities across complex value chains.

In order to foster the establishment and/or consolidation of Southern maritime clusters, it is crucial to increase North-South and South-South cooperation. Conceived as a step in this direction, this virtual meeting will involve representatives from existing national maritime clusters, who will share their cooperation experiences and explore their transferability.

screenshot with participants and a presentation slide at tourism webinar

WestMED Malta underlines the importance of partnerships during Tourism, ICT and post-Covid event

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The vulenrability of the tourism sector is a common challenge which requires joint solutions. There is thus scope in building partnerships in order to find effective solutions as well as identifying lessons as a means of building resilience. The webinar on the ICT services for post Covid-19 blue tourism (on November 10, 2020) in the Mediterranean region has specifially sought to address this challenge by harnessing the joint efforts of a number of stakeholders including those of the BlueMed, WestMed as well as the relationships identified through the Blue Roses and Mistral. The intention is to continue to develop these relationships and build on our synegies for the benefit of the maritime sector and its stakeholers.

The effective use of digitilisation requires investment in skills – those which are required to develop digitilisation as well as those required to use digitilisation.

Covid is making us greatly aware of the importance of digitilisation but it is also making us aware of the importance of relationships which are also experienced through travelling. We must ensure that these two elements are complementary in nature.

During the event the National Hub for Malta spoke about the vulnerability of the tourism sector, a sector which has practically been paralysed by the shock exerted by Covid. Furthermore the sector continues to be vulnerable to other shocks including those manifested by climate change.  The importance of the sector is evident through its key contribution in the generation of income and jobs across a number of  countries in the Mediterranean and thus it has thus never been as evident that the sector is in need of resilience.

Given the common challenges, stakeholders should seek partnerships and focus on joint solutions. Innovative solutions which draw on the lessons from different mutidisiplinaries are required. It is therefore imperative to build on the synergies that are brought about by initiatives such as the Westmed, which seeks to bring stakeholders together, and the Blue Med, which addresses research and innovation. The National hub also stressed that there are important partnerships which have been developed through Mistral and Blu Roses which should be nurtured further.

Full recording on YouTube

Tourism Event-15 December 2020

It is due to these considerations that the Westmed together with its partners will be organising another event on the tourism sector focusing on strengthening of ties and opportunities with southern partners as a means of developing a sustainable tourism sector in the Mediterranean.

Interested to attend? Let us know by clicking here