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The first launching session in Tunisia within the ECOSAFIMED project

INSTM organized the first launching session in Tunisia

The first launching session in Tunisia within the ECOSAFIMED project

In the framework of the Mediterranean Programme for Cross-Border Co-operation, the National Institute of Marine Sciences and Technologies (INSTM - Salambo, Tunisia) –being the partner representing the Southern bank of the Mediterranean– together with the Biodiversity Foundation and the Institute of Marine Sciences (Spain), and the University of Genoa (Italy), are in charge of implementing the ECOSAFMED project. This initiative aims to analyse the traditional coastal fishing sector and to establish management guidelines to rationalize the exploitation and ensure both the optimal cost-effectiveness of the fishermen and the environmental status of the benthic communities in the basin.

Friday, 6 March, 2015

06 March 2015

Within the scope of this project, the National Institute of Marine Sciences and Technologies organized a launching session on the 27th of February 2015 at the Center for Professional Training in Marine Engineering in Kelibia. This meeting was aimed at fishermen to transmit the characteristic of the project, the relevance of their cooperation and the economic benefits that adopting good fishing practices that preserve the seabed may have on the fishing activity. Representatives of all regional stakeholders in the fishing sector attended the event: professionals, researchers and representatives from associations as well as from the administration.
Researchers of the National Institute of Marine Sciences and Technologies were in charge of introducing the project to the attendees and presenting the most important initial results through the analysis of the video footage obtained using sophisticated ROV technology. During the event several videos and photos captured in the marine expeditions during the months of August and September 2014, in La Galite and Esquerquis, were shown.

This initiative allowed the audience to become aware of the necessity of the cooperation among all stakeholders in the artisanal fishing sector, in order to rationalize the exploitation thus ensuring the sustainability of the sector and the preservation of marine benthic communities. Furthermore, the attendees also discussed the economic benefits resulting from the adoption of responsible fishing practices. To conclude, the participants unanimously agreed on the necessity of involving all parties in the development of a long-term agreement based on the joint recommendations that will be drafted upon the completion of the project.
 
 
THE ENPI CBC MED PROGRAMME
 
 
The ENPI Mediterranean Sea Programme is a cross-border co-operation initiative that forms part of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI). The programme’s aim is to promote co-operation between regions on both shores of the Mediterranean, in order to tackle common challenges and assess endogenous potentials.
 
A total of 14 countries, representing 76 regions and close to 110 million inhabitants, have benefited from the programme: Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, the Palestinian Authority, Portugal, Spain, Syria and Tunisia.
 
The programme has a budget of €200 million, funded by the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument, and the contribution to each project amounts to a maximum of 90 per cent of the total cost.
 
The projects funded deal with a range of issues relating to promoting socioeconomic and territorial development: supporting innovation and research; sustainable development and energy efficiency throughout the Mediterranean Sea Basin; improving conditions and the various forms of movement of persons, goods and capital; and promoting dialogue between cultures and forms of governance.
 
Information on the ECOSAFIMED project and the ENPI CBC MED Programme is available on the ENPI CBC MED  and the Europe Aid Office of Development and Cooperation websites.
 
This publication was produced with financial support from the European Union, in the framework of the ENPI CBC Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the Biodiversity Foundation and do not under any circumstance reflect the position of the European Union or the Programme’s management structures.