The sixth Steering Committee of the ECOSAFIMED project took place on 28th and 29th October at the premises of the Tunisian partner's office: the National Institute of  Marine Sciences and Technologies (INSTM) in Salammbô. With less than two months left until the completion of the two year project, the objective of the meeting, is mainly to share conclusions related to the assessment of the impact of artisanal fisheries on the Mediterranean benthic communities in the 2 study areas in each country: Tunisia, Italy and Spain.     The main result of the project is to offer a guidelines for artisanal fleet in order to improve the conservation of benthic communities in the Mediterranean sea. Project partners agreed on a set of general recommendations for all the areas and other specific recommendations for each study area: Esquerquis bank and Galite archipelago in Tunisia; Gulf of Patti and Ponza archipelago in Italy and Cap de Creus and Minorca Channel in Spain. As an example, one of the most effective recommendation is to return the benthic bycatch species in less than 30 minutes and at the same location where the gear has been hauled.   Later project partners will discuss these proposals with the fishermen and associated institutions with the aim of signing agreements to adopt these best practices in a voluntary way and in a long term. Also these recommendations will be transmitted to the main entities devoted to marine conservation and fisheries management in the Mediterranean Sea.   Moreover, partners finalized the key issues related to organization of the ECOSAFIMED final conference, which is scheduled to take place between 9th and 10th December 2015 in Tunisia.   Besides, on 30th October, a technical seminar on Geographical Information System (GIS) was carried out by the expert PhD Susana Requena, in order to integrate the project information in a common geodatabase.       ECOSAFIMED AND THE ENPI CBC MED PROGRAMME With a budget of €1.9 million, the ECOSAFIMED project promotes responsible fishing practices and communication between researchers and the artisanal fishing sector, with the aim of helping to conserve marine ecosystems. The ultimate objective of the project is to produce a series of recommendations for managing the artisanal fisheries studied in the Mediterranean, to ensure their compatibility with good conservation practices for marine habitats.   The project also seeks to identify valuable areas to be proposed as Protected Marine Areas under the auspices of European Directives and/or the Barcelona Convention. ECOSAFIMED is one of the 39 projects to have received funding from the 1,095 projects presented at the second call for the 2007-2013 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 EuropeAid 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.     Further information:   www.ecosafimed.eu │