In the framework of the MedBycatch project, a pocket guide to help onboard bycatch observations in Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey has been published as a complementary tool to the more comprehensive ID guide of Mediterranean vulnerable species.

The Identification Guide Of Vulnerable Species Incidentally Caught In Mediterranean Fisheries is a practical document that has been published within the MedBycatch project to help fishermen, bycatch observers and scientists, to identify and monitor vulnerable species caught incidentally in the Mediterranean.

The identification guide is the result of the collaboration between the MedBycatch project partners, namely ACCOBAMS, FAO/GFCM, SPA/RAC, IUCN-Med (coordinator of the final compilation and editing of the document), BirdLife Europe and Central Asia, MEDASSET, with the financial support of the MAVA Foundation, and the contribution of different Mediterranean experts and national partners of the project in Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey.

Pocket guides deriving from the full document and tailored to each of the three Med Bycatch project’s beneficiary countries, namely Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey, are now available. These additional tools have been elaborated in order to be used onboard as they highlight the main species incidentally caught in each country. Species selection within each pocket guide were based on the preliminary bycatch data from the project and the contribution of the national experts/partners in each country.

These tools support the standardised protocol for bycatch in the Mediterranean « Monitoring the incidental catch of vulnerable species in Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries - methodology for data collection » prepared within the framework of the MedBycatch Project by FAO/GFCM (coordinator of the final compilation and editing of the document) with the contribution of partner organisations (ACCOBAMS, SPA/RAC, IUCN-Med, BirdLife Europe and Central Asia, MEDASSET).

The MedBycatch Project activities are in line with the UNEP/MAP MTS 2016-2021, the Barcelona Convention SPA/BD protocol and the Strategic Action Programme on Biological Diversity (SAP BIO) and provide support to the implementation of the Mediterranean Action Plans related to Monk Seal, Marine turtles, Cetaceans, Seabirds, Cartilaginous fishes and Coralligenous Habitats.

List of documents:

• Identification guide of vulnerable species incidentally caught in Mediterranean fisheries (French, English, Turkish)
• Pocket identification guide of main vulnerable species incidentally caught in Tunisian fisheries (English, French)
• Pocket identification guide of main vulnerable species incidentally caught in Moroccan fisheries (English, French)
• Pocket identification guide of main vulnerable species incidentally caught in Turkish fisheries (English, Turkish)
• Monitoring incidental catch of vulnerable species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea: methodology for data collection (only in English)