18 to 19 May 2010, Libian Arab Jamahiriya, Tripoli. 8th Coordination Committee meeting of the MedSudMed Project. The Project Coordinator participated to the 8th Coordination Committee of the FAO MedSudMed Project “Assessment and monitoring of the fisheries resources and their ecosystems in the Straits of Sicily”, which was held on the 18th and 19th of May 2010 in Tripoli, Libian Arab Jamahiriya, and kindly hosted by the Marine Biology Research Centre of Tajura. The Meeting was focused on the inter committee period activities and on activities to be planned for the next 12 months. The meeting was attended by delegations from the four participating countries (Italy, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malta and Tunisia), as well as by a representative of the Italian Donor, the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department and the FAO General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean and Black Sea. More information: http://www.faomedsudmed.org.

10 to 14 May 2010, Italy, Venice. 39th CIESM Congress. The Project Coordinator participated to the 39th Ciesm Congress to present a scientific work titled “Spawning Frequency of Picarel, Spicara smaris (L.) in the Saronikos Gulf (Greece)”. Spawning frequency is an important reproductive variable and a crucial parameter for the spawning biomass estimation of the pelagic species. Spicara smaris is one of the target species in the Eastern Mediterranean countries catch and thus will deserve a particular attention under the Eastmed project. More information http://www.ciesm.org.

29 to 30 April 2010, Spain, Malaga.  CopeMed II meeting on the definition of priority topics related to shared resources (demersal and small pelagic) in the sub-region. The Project Coordinator participated in a technical meeting under the CopeMed framework held in Malaga (Spain) regarding shared stocks identification in the sub-region so as to be taken into account for stock assessment and management purposes. The issue of shared stocks will be also faced in the EastMed Project, when similar sub-regional Working Groups will have to be established for a jointly stock assessments performance. More information: http://www.faocopemed.org.

19 to 20 April, 2010, Greece, Athens. EastMed Inception meeting. EastMed, “Scientific and Institutional Cooperation to Support Responsible Fisheries in the Eastern Mediterranean – EastMed” is a project under the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department that became operational in September 2009. Dr. Constantina Karlou-Riga was appointed as project coordinator. EastMed will support the development of regionally-consistent fisheries management plans among the Eastern Mediterranean countries through the monitoring of commercial fisheries and the developing of fishery research and management capacity. The Beneficiary countries are those with waters included in the GFCM and the geographical Sub-Areas (GSAs) 19-20 and 22-28. The project is planned to run for five years. Greece, Italy and the Directorate General for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs of the EC are the project’s donors. The project headquarters are based in Athens, Greece.

22 to 25 March 2010, Turkey, Ankara. Visit to project participating country. The Project Coordinator visited Turkey, where she had a meeting with Fisheries Administration staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. During her visit she also had the opportunity to present the project objectives and discuss with the fisheries experts the country capacity and to stress the importance of the Turkish contribution to the project taking into account the scientific Turkish expertise in marine sciences and also the big number of the research Institutes/Universities which could support the project implementation.

16 to 19 March 2010, Lebanon, Beirut. Visit a potentially participating in the project country. The Project Coordinator visited Lebanon, where she had a meeting with Fisheries Administration staff of the Ministry of Agriculture. During her visit to the Oceanographic & Fishing Institute in Batroun, she had the opportunity to present the project objectives and discuss with the fisheries experts the country benefits when it joins the project. Discussions were also done regarding the country facilities in case meetings are organized in Lebanon.

25 to 29 January 2010, Montenegro, Budva. Experts from several Mediterranean countries visiting the Kotor Marine Laboratory. During the 12th annual GFCM/SAC meeting in Budva (Montenegro, 25-29 January) a group of FAO experts and SAC Delegates from several countries, the Chairperson of the SAC Dr. H. Farrugio and the four Coordinators of the Sub Committees visited Kotor Center of Marine Research. Under the direction of Dr. Aleksandar Joksimovic, Director of Institute of Marine Biology, the experts visited the Center departments and conversed with the Institute experts.

19 to 22 January 2010, Egypt, Cairo. Visit to project participating country. The Project Coordinator visited the premises of the General Authority for Fish Resources Development (GAFRD, where she presented the project objectives and listened to the country capacity/weaknesses. At the meeting, the chairman of GAFRD, Dr Mohamed Fathi Osman, together with the Focal Point Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Salem Eid and experts from GAFRD and the National Institute of Oceanographic and Fisheries were present. The expectations of Egypr from the project were commented.

13 to 15 January 2010, Italy, Rome. Mediterranean and Black sea FAO Projects Coordination Meeting. The EastMed Project coordinator participated to the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Mediterranean and Black Sea Coordination Meeting from 13 to 15 January 2010 in Rome (FAO). The representatives of the different projects/activities presented the objectives, partners, and main activity lines and results of their work: EastMed, K. Karlou-Riga; CopeMed II, J. A. Camiñas; AdriaMed, N. Milone; ArtFiMed, M. Bernardon; Support desert aquaculture in Algeria (TCP/ALG/3103), V. Crespi; FAORNE, P. Manini; Southern European countries Project, Budapest FAO officer; MedSudMed, L. Ceriola; GFCM Aquaculture, M. Camilleri; MedFisis and LME Strategic partnership for Fisheries, P. Barros. The meeting was an opportunity to reinforce the cooperation and synergies between the different projects and to organize under a coordination strategy the activities for the next period. A new coordination meeting will be organizing in July 2010.

19 October to 30 October, 2009, Italy, Ancona. GFCM/SAC/SCSA/WGs. According to what has been adopted during the Scientific Advisory Committee of GFCM (SAC 11, Marrakech 1-5 December 2008) the Sub-Committee on Stock Assessment Working Groups (on demersals and small pelagics) have taken place in order to carry out practical sessions for performing stock assessments trying the fitting of several models. Dr. Graham Pilling from CEFAS (UK) and Dr. Andres Uriarte from AZTI (Spain) have been nominated as moderators for the demersals and small pelagics WGs respectively. The Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche CNR-ISMAR in Ancona hosted the meeting. EastMed Coordinator participated in the WGs for helping the scientists from the Eastern Mediterranean that the project supported.