Since 2014, the European Union has reformed its fisheries policies with the aim to end overfishing. The EU is committed to make all the commercial stocks fished at the maximum sustainable yield before 2020. Unfortunately, to date an estimate of the actual health and exploitation status of these stocks is not available, at least not in a quantitative, repeatable, and verifiable way, especially for the Mediterranean Sea. Gianpaolo Coro (NeMIS laboratory of Isti-Cnr) and Giuseppe Scarcella (Ismar-Cnr) have collaborated with a group of European researchers and published the first estimate ever of the status and exploitation of about 400 commercial European and Mediterranean stocks. The most important findings of this research are:

• - 85% of EU stocks are below healthy levels;
• - 64% of EU stocks are currently overfished;
• - Should fishing hours be reduced of 20% today, overall catch would increase of more than 57%, with consequent economical and social benefits.

The analysis (reproducible through the D4Science e-Infrastructure of Isti-Cnr) has been operated through a complex mathematical model (CMSY) that combines statistical and artificial intelligence techniques with biological relations, and is able to project stoks re-population scenarios in the future. The results could have high impact on the EU fisheries policy in the next future, because the results were presented at the EU Parliament in February 2017 and have received positive interest by several political areas. Further, the Oceana international organization has disseminated these results through their channels in USA and Europe.

Links:
Paper on Marine Policy
Open Access version of the paper
D4Science e-Infrastructure gateway
Oceana Report
CMSY Model