Description

This document contains the report of the Seventh Meeting of the Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI) Working Group on Fisheries Management (WGFM), which was held in Kuwait City, the State of Kuwait, from 5 to 7 November 2013. The WGFM addressed and made decisions on matters concerning relevant follow-up to the sixth meeting of the RECOFI WGFM and to the Seventh Session of RECOFI that was held in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, during the period from 14 to 16 May 2013. Country reports on the status of national fisheries were presented and discussed. The WGFM formulated further work on the socio-economics of fisheries in the region. The enforcement of the recommendation on minimum data reporting was reviewed and the urgent need to establish a data access policy and protocol was considered. The WGFM identified the objectives, data and skills requirement of the first regional joint assessment of the narrow-barred Spanish mackerel. The importance of the regional approach to fisheries management was recognized, initially with a particular focus on developing management procedures with regards to shrimp trawling and management plan for the narrow-barred Spanish mackerel.