Development of economic and social indicators for the management of Mediterranean fisheries

Abstract

The paper reviews recent attempts to select economic and social indicators for the management of fisheries under the aegis of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. It outlines some general conditions for the selection and describes aspects of the reference framework specific to the Mediterranean, in a context of poorly defined management objectives. Some of the difficulties in adopting performance indicators at a sub-regional level, particularly in relation to determining the appropriate scale of fleet segmentation, are discussed. With a view to establishing a database on economic and social indicators for Mediterranean fisheries, the need to standardize statistical approaches is emphasized.