FIAO/R1244 (En) FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Report ISSN 2070-6987 Report of the WORKSHOP ON USE OF BEST AVAILABLE SCIENCE IN DEVELOPING AND PROMOTING BEST PRACTICES FOR TRAWL FISHING OPERATIONS IN AFRICA Marrakech, Morocco, 20-25 March 2017 FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Report No. 1244 FIAO/R1244 (En) Report of the WORKSHOP ON USE OF BEST AVAILABLE SCIENCE IN DEVELOPING AND PROMOTING BEST PRACTICES FOR TRAWL FISHING OPERATIONS IN AFRICA Marrakech, Morocco, 20-25 March 2017 FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 2020 Required citation: FAO. 2020. Report of the Workshop on Use of Best Available Science in Developing and Promoting Best Practices for Trawl Fishing Operations in Africa. Marrakech, Morocco, 20–25 March 2017. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Report No. 1244. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca2074en The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO. ISSN 2070-6987 [Print] ISSN 2707-546X [Online] ISBN 978-92-5-131045-8 © FAO, 2020 Some rights reserved. 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FAO information products are available on the FAO website (www.fao.org/publications) and can be purchased through [email protected]. Requests for commercial use should be submitted via: www.fao.org/contact-us/licence-request. Queries regarding rights and licensing should be submitted to: [email protected]. iii PREPARATION OF THIS DOCUMENT This document is the report of the “Regional Workshop on Use of Best Available Science in Developing and Promoting Best Practices for Trawl Fishing Operations in Africa” held in Marrakech, Morocco, from 20 to 25 March 2017. The Workshop was arranged in collaboration with FAO and the international initiative “Finding Common Ground on the Scientific Knowledge Regarding Best Practices in Trawling” (TBP Project). This report summarizes presentations of the Workshop and conclusions from discussions. The document was prepared by Professor Ray Hilborn (School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, United States of America) and Dr Petri Suuronen (formerly Fishing Operations and Technology Branch, FIAO). The report benefited from contributions from all workshop participants, especially those provided written materials for Annex 1 which are included with minimal edits. The final editing of the report was done by Dr Pingguo He (School for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, United States of America). ABSTRACT One of the most contentious issues in management of marine fisheries is the use of mobile bottom-contacting gears, mainly trawls and dredges. There are growing concerns about the overall ecosystem impacts of bottom trawling. Some countries have banned bottom trawling and some major retailers refuse to stock fish caught using bottom trawl gears. However, such decisions are not always based on the best available scientific advice. The initiative “Finding common ground on the scientific knowledge regarding trawling best practices (TBP)” is an international collaboration of leaders in the scientific community to understand how trawling and other forms of towed bottom-contacting gears interact with seabed habitats and their biota. An analysis of the datasets to which the project has had access has revealed an underrepresentation of fisheries from tropical regions. Bottom trawl fishery is important in the region because it provides food and livelihoods for a large number of people. The TBP project in collaboration with FAO held an expert workshop in 2014 in Bangkok (Thailand) covering South and Southeast Asia and another workshop in 2016 in Cartagena (Colombia) covering the Latin American region. It was considered important to address the data gap and to engage stakeholders in Africa to raise awareness about potential best practices for trawling. Therefore, the TBP project, in collaboration with FAO, conducted a workshop on use of best available science in developing and promoting best practices for trawl fishing operations in Africa in March 2017 in Marrakech, Morocco. Key research institutions, universities, organizations and independent experts involved in data collection and research on assessment and/or management of ecosystem impacts of bottom trawling in Africa were invited to attend the workshop. The workshop first summarized the progress made in the five phases of the project and then (i) identified availability of data on spatial distribution of trawling activities, source of data as well as gaps in knowledge in the African region; (ii) evaluated availability and applicability of data on habitat, bycatch and ecosystem impacts of bottom trawling in the region; (iii) began to assemble data on trawling intensity in representative ecosystems; and (iv) developed an arrangement for expertise and data sharing, and for continuing to collaborate to develop best practices for trawling to enhance sustainability of marine ecosystem that contribute to food security and livelihoods in African. iv The workshop concluded that by using fine-scale analysis we could use total trawling effort data for individual African countries to estimate the total trawl footprint in the region. However, there are considerable variabilities within the region, with Mediterranean area more intensively trawled and the rest of Africa much less trawled. There seem to a considerable amount of data on African trawl fisheries that could potentially be incorporated into a unified database for better understanding trawl impacts in the region, but this has yet to be done. The workshop served as a very useful first step in building collaboration with a network of global trawl fishing scientists. The collaboration opportunities identified and established should lead to a significant advance in our understanding of how to best manage African trawl fisheries. v CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1 Background ................................................................................................................................. 1 Rationale for the workshop ......................................................................................................... 1 Venue .......................................................................................................................................... 2 Objectives of the workshop ........................................................................................................ 2 Key activities .............................................................................................................................. 2 PART I. SUMMARY OF PROGRESSES MADE IN PHASES I-V OF THE PROJECT .................. 3 Phase I. Trawling footprint ......................................................................................................... 3 Phase II. Direct effects of commercial trawling on seabed communities ..................................