Recommendation GFCM/43/2019/4 on a management plan for the sustainable exploitation of red coral in the Mediterranean Sea.

This Recommendation lays down rules for the establishment of an adaptive multiannual management plan for the sustainable exploitation of red coral populations in the Mediterranean Sea. The multiannual management plan shall aim to apply the precautionary approach to red coral fisheries management; counteract or prevent overfishing with a view to ensuring long-term yields while maintaining the red coral populations within biologically sustainable levels; establish measures to adjust exploitation rates and fishing effort to sustainable levels; and deter IUU fishing activities. The contracting parties and cooperating non-contracting parties shall adopt a national management plan for red coral not later than 30 June 2020, where there is not one in place. Any national management plan shall comprise at least conservation measures, fleet management measures and control and enforcement in accordance with this Recommendation. Each contracting party and cooperating non-contracting party shall take the necessary steps to implement a Catch Documentation Scheme for the purpose of identifying the origin of red coral harvested in the GFCM area of application and in order to support the implementation of relevant GFCM conservation and management measures.
Red coral is listed as “endangered” under the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed in the Annex III of the Protocol concerning the Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean of the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean.