Malaga in 2007 and ratified in 2009 at the second edition of the meeting, held in the
city of Oujda (Morocco) producing the Oujda Declaration (Robles 2010) to promote
the creation of the “Alboran Network for Sustainable Development” to support a
permanent surveillance system in the form of an Observatory for Conservation and
Sustainable Development in the Alboran region, and the subsequent Alboran
Poctefex Project (of the Cross-Border Cooperation Program, Spain—External Borders of the European Union).
Other scientific and management experiences involve other countries connected
to the Alboran area with similar problems and solutions. Currently, new international
programs, governance organizations, and other operators are putting their attention
into the Alboran Sea region, an area that is not only a favorable region for cooperation but sometimes used as an example, although a realistic approach shows us the
difficulties for the participation of some stakeholders in some participative process
(Twomey and O’Mahony 2019).
As an example of where we go, the approach, cooperation, stakeholder’s involvement, sharing knowledge, and improving capacities, the FAO regional project
COPEMED (Coordination to Support Fisheries Management in the Western and
Central Mediterranean) implemented in 1986, currently in its second phase, could be
useful. COPEMED aims to strengthen technical and scientific capacities for fisheries
assessment and management in the central and western Mediterranean, taking into
account environmental, biological, economical, social, and institutional considerations. To this end, it promotes scientific cooperation among the coastal nations
through common methodologies, standardized data-gathering as well as joint
multidisciplinary analyses. Countries involved in COPEMED are EU and non-EU
and three countries, Algeria, Morocco, and Spain, sharing the Alboran Sea are
members of the project. The current phase of COPEMED started in 2008 aiming
to build on the achievements of the first phase of the project (1996–2005) while
strengthening an established framework of international cooperation, which fosters
subregional approaches in fisheries research and management. The Project aims to
maintain the sustainability of marine fisheries in the central and western Mediterranean Sea, taking into consideration environmental, biological, economical, and
social issues, and aims to promote scientific cooperation among the coastal nations
through coordinated scientific investigations and data gathering as well as joint
multidisciplinary analyses. The Project will support national and regional fisheries
management processes and take advantage of the scientific multidisciplinary
knowledge that was developed during the first phase. The Project is reducing the
differences in fisheries management between northern and southern countries of the
region and tries to encourage a subregional approach in fisheries research and
management.
The fishery research institutions of the region and the national management
bodies benefit from the work of the Project. They will be in a better position to
formulate fishery management and development strategies based on sound
multidisciplinary knowledge of the sector. The national fisheries departments will
be able to perform multidisciplinary data collections and analyses that will be used to
formulate fisheries policies. There are mutual benefits for all concerned because of
8
J. C. Báez et al.
city of Oujda (Morocco) producing the Oujda Declaration (Robles 2010) to promote
the creation of the “Alboran Network for Sustainable Development” to support a
permanent surveillance system in the form of an Observatory for Conservation and
Sustainable Development in the Alboran region, and the subsequent Alboran
Poctefex Project (of the Cross-Border Cooperation Program, Spain—External Borders of the European Union).
Other scientific and management experiences involve other countries connected
to the Alboran area with similar problems and solutions. Currently, new international
programs, governance organizations, and other operators are putting their attention
into the Alboran Sea region, an area that is not only a favorable region for cooperation but sometimes used as an example, although a realistic approach shows us the
difficulties for the participation of some stakeholders in some participative process
(Twomey and O’Mahony 2019).
As an example of where we go, the approach, cooperation, stakeholder’s involvement, sharing knowledge, and improving capacities, the FAO regional project
COPEMED (Coordination to Support Fisheries Management in the Western and
Central Mediterranean) implemented in 1986, currently in its second phase, could be
useful. COPEMED aims to strengthen technical and scientific capacities for fisheries
assessment and management in the central and western Mediterranean, taking into
account environmental, biological, economical, social, and institutional considerations. To this end, it promotes scientific cooperation among the coastal nations
through common methodologies, standardized data-gathering as well as joint
multidisciplinary analyses. Countries involved in COPEMED are EU and non-EU
and three countries, Algeria, Morocco, and Spain, sharing the Alboran Sea are
members of the project. The current phase of COPEMED started in 2008 aiming
to build on the achievements of the first phase of the project (1996–2005) while
strengthening an established framework of international cooperation, which fosters
subregional approaches in fisheries research and management. The Project aims to
maintain the sustainability of marine fisheries in the central and western Mediterranean Sea, taking into consideration environmental, biological, economical, and
social issues, and aims to promote scientific cooperation among the coastal nations
through coordinated scientific investigations and data gathering as well as joint
multidisciplinary analyses. The Project will support national and regional fisheries
management processes and take advantage of the scientific multidisciplinary
knowledge that was developed during the first phase. The Project is reducing the
differences in fisheries management between northern and southern countries of the
region and tries to encourage a subregional approach in fisheries research and
management.
The fishery research institutions of the region and the national management
bodies benefit from the work of the Project. They will be in a better position to
formulate fishery management and development strategies based on sound
multidisciplinary knowledge of the sector. The national fisheries departments will
be able to perform multidisciplinary data collections and analyses that will be used to
formulate fisheries policies. There are mutual benefits for all concerned because of
8
J. C. Báez et al.