Responsible Fisheries (CCRF), the BGI is a framework which focuses on “promoting the sustainable use and conservation of aquatic renewable resources in an
economically, socially and environmentally responsible manner with the aim of
reconciling and balancing priorities between growth and conservation and between
industrial and artisanal fisheries and aquaculture, and of ensuring equitable benefits
for communities” (FAO 2014).
The BGI is based on previous concepts promoted and adopted within the FAO
agenda and then by the international organizations, regional fisheries organization
(RFO), and the international community. The BGI became a series of instruments
derivate from previous concepts, contemplated and defined as a body of agreements
sustained by the law of the sea, aiming to better the sustainable use of the marine
system and their resources based on an approach that includes the social, ecological,
and economic components.
The BGI of FAO includes both aquaculture and fisheries as main components. In
relation to the antecedents of the BGI in relation to fisheries, a revision of how the
Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) and the Blue Initiative were
established in the framework of the FAO General Fisheries Commission for the
Mediterranean and Black Sea (GFCM) follows. The 150th session of the FAO
Council approved the amended GFCM Agreement, a new framework that not only
includes in its preamble a reference to blue growth but also contains a set of modern
provisions that underpin the role of fisheries and aquaculture in the Mediterranean
and the Black Sea, fully consistent with applicable FAO policies, according the FAO
Fisheries DG (FAO 2017).
24.4.1 EBM for Mediterranean Fisheries: From Theory
to Practice
As discussed in “Introduction,” the management of the fishery resources was first
based on single stocks management, or target resources-oriented management
(TROM) (the traditional fisheries management) was extended in countries and
RFO where fishing activities target mainly one or several species. During the past
50–60 years at least, the dominant fisheries management paradigm has been to
maintain the target resource population base through various controls on the species
landing size and the fishing activity. This system was based on data series of capture
(C) of the target stock, and it associated fishing mortality (F) and the assessment of
single stocks using models without environmental considerations. The models
simplify the reality but were able to produce a real management of the fishing
activity through the control of the effort, establishing total allowable catches
(TACs) and quotas, closed season and closed areas as main management tools to
improve the stocks status and the economic revenues.
Conceptually, EBM is based on previous TROM. To apply this approach, the
ecosystem in which managers must apply decisions should be previously limited and
24 Sustainable Development and Blue Growth in the Alboran Sea: Enabling Ocean. . .
809
economically, socially and environmentally responsible manner with the aim of
reconciling and balancing priorities between growth and conservation and between
industrial and artisanal fisheries and aquaculture, and of ensuring equitable benefits
for communities” (FAO 2014).
The BGI is based on previous concepts promoted and adopted within the FAO
agenda and then by the international organizations, regional fisheries organization
(RFO), and the international community. The BGI became a series of instruments
derivate from previous concepts, contemplated and defined as a body of agreements
sustained by the law of the sea, aiming to better the sustainable use of the marine
system and their resources based on an approach that includes the social, ecological,
and economic components.
The BGI of FAO includes both aquaculture and fisheries as main components. In
relation to the antecedents of the BGI in relation to fisheries, a revision of how the
Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) and the Blue Initiative were
established in the framework of the FAO General Fisheries Commission for the
Mediterranean and Black Sea (GFCM) follows. The 150th session of the FAO
Council approved the amended GFCM Agreement, a new framework that not only
includes in its preamble a reference to blue growth but also contains a set of modern
provisions that underpin the role of fisheries and aquaculture in the Mediterranean
and the Black Sea, fully consistent with applicable FAO policies, according the FAO
Fisheries DG (FAO 2017).
24.4.1 EBM for Mediterranean Fisheries: From Theory
to Practice
As discussed in “Introduction,” the management of the fishery resources was first
based on single stocks management, or target resources-oriented management
(TROM) (the traditional fisheries management) was extended in countries and
RFO where fishing activities target mainly one or several species. During the past
50–60 years at least, the dominant fisheries management paradigm has been to
maintain the target resource population base through various controls on the species
landing size and the fishing activity. This system was based on data series of capture
(C) of the target stock, and it associated fishing mortality (F) and the assessment of
single stocks using models without environmental considerations. The models
simplify the reality but were able to produce a real management of the fishing
activity through the control of the effort, establishing total allowable catches
(TACs) and quotas, closed season and closed areas as main management tools to
improve the stocks status and the economic revenues.
Conceptually, EBM is based on previous TROM. To apply this approach, the
ecosystem in which managers must apply decisions should be previously limited and
24 Sustainable Development and Blue Growth in the Alboran Sea: Enabling Ocean. . .
809