Mediterranean regional case study – WP 7 Dr Costas Papaconstantinou Hellenic Centre for Marine Research Institute for Marine Biological Resources GSRT (12)

Title: Towards an ecosystem based approach of fisheries management in the Mediterranean: essential fish habitats and trophic interactions Participants: Hellenic Centre for Marine Research/I.M.B.R., Greece IFREMER, France Spanish Institute of Oceanography, Spain Department of Fisheries and Marine Research, Cyprus Associated partners (to be further investigated): CNR, Italy Case study tentative cost (to be covered internally by ongoing projects): more than 350,000 euros REGIONAL CASE STUDY DESCRIPTION

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Case study topics: TOPIC I Title: Essential fish habitats Key actions: Mapping key spawning areas, habitat mapping of feeding and nursery areas of exploited fish population, identification of sensitive areas to be used for the implementation of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Stocks and locations Large pelagics (bluefin tuna and swordfish) in whole Mediterranean Small pelagics (anchovy and sardine) in western Mediterranean and Aegean sea (Adriatic Sea may be included if Italy and Croatia join Marifish project) Demersal stocks (hake) in western Mediterranean and Aegean Sea (Adriatic Sea may be included if Italy and Croatia join Marifish project) Benthic stocks (red mullet and sole) in western Mediterranean and Aegean Sea (Adriatic Sea may be included if Italy and Croatia join Marifish project) Shellfish (deep water red shrimp) in western Mediterranean and Ionian Sea

Case study topics: TOPIC II Title: Trophic interactions Key actions: Understanding trophic interactions in key Mediterranean food webs and their implications for fish condition and contamination Ecosystems and locations Gulf of Lions for total food webs from phytoplankton to marine mammals with key species: hake, sardine, anchovy and bluefin tuna) Balearic islands: interactions between plankton and tuna larvae Aegean Sea: pelagic food web with key species: sardine - anchovy, hake and swordfish

During Paris meeting the following research actions have been decided Inventory of the programs It has been requested that each country will give in a table the detailed description of the national programs addressing fisheries in the Med. Sea. Spain proposed a model which needs to be completed by 4 points: -the national presentation: all the organizations involved in the program have to be mentioned (ex for Spain: IEO, University, CSCIC…) -the area must be well defined -the funding process including UE has to be mentioned -The duration of the program. -State of Data & Data Availability Paris meeting Large pelagic fish, such as bluefin tuna, albacore and swordfish : Habitat mapping of the abundance of the fish will be achieved in relation with environmental condition. Evaluating catches by area needs to have access to VMS data. Tagging experiments developed by each country will be put together in the same common data base. This work will be done in strong partnership with the ICCAT secretariat.

Demersal fisheries : The data will come from the MEDITS and it is underlined that there is no access to the data from some UE countries. Jacques Bertrand (IFREMER) previous coordinator of MEDITS will be in charge to build this common access data base. In case of difficulties, the WP7 leader will address a letter to DG MARE to facilitate this task. Small pelagic fish, such as anchovy and sardine : Mapping of the habitat of small pelagics will be achieved in relation to environmental conditions. Habitat mapping will be based on a presence absence approach at different periods of the year. Trophic relationships : An inventory of the different laboratories or teams will be addressed with the different techniques. The modeling approach will be identified to address the following topics: -impact of climate change on the trophic web and consequences for recruitment or juvenile survival - effect of accumulation of pollutants from phytoplankton to top predators Paris meeting

FOLLOW-UP KEY ACTIONS Action 1: During Paris meeting (June 2008), the MoU of the Mediterranean regional case study was discussed and its draft content elaborated. The MoU has been signed from the participant countries. Action 2: During the Paris meeting a deadline for the detailed elaboration of the sub- regional projects in the Mediterranean based on the above mentioned aims and locations was set for 15 September The partners have provided detailed proposals which will be discussed at the present meeting, hoping that these will be finalized. Action 3: In the present meeting we will discuss in depth the presented projects, we will select the most interesting taking into account a) their Mediterranean dimension b) their input in the fisheries management of the Mediterranean c) the greatest number of participants countries. Base on the abovementioned criteria the sub- regional projects for the Mediterranean regional case study will be finalized during this meeting.