International appointments for Maltese fisheries consultant

Matthew Camilleri, consultant to the Fisheries Conservation and Control Division within the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment, has been elected chairman and co-ordinator of the Statistics and Information Sub-Committee (SCSI) of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean's (GFCM) Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) by unanimous vote. This prestigious appointment brings with it also Mr Camilleri's automatic appointment as a member of the Co-ordination Group of the GFCM-SAC.

Over the past four years, Mr Camilleri has been a core participant in the MedStat programme, which is supported by regional projects of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. This has developed fisheries statistical schemes and information systems in southern and Adriatic Mediterranean countries, including Malta.

The programme is now expected to be extended throughout the Mediterranean through the Mediterranean Fisheries Statistics and Information Systems (MedFiSIS) programme, funded by the European Community and Technical Co-operation Programmes of FAO. This will be implemented by the GFCM-SCSI, under the co-ordination of Mr Camilleri and FAO.

MedFiSIS is highly regarded as an instrument to enhance responsible fisheries management in the Mediterranean, which requires reliable and timely data on fisheries resources and on the fleets and gears which exploit them.

Mr Camilleri has also formed part of an international team of scientists who have been working closely together since 2000, within the framework of the FAO-COPEMED project, to carry out the first ever regional stock assessment of dolphin-fish (lampuki).

It is envisaged that the results of this study will serve as the basis for the formulation of regional management measures for the sustainable exploitation of this species, which is increasingly being targeted by Mediterranean fishing fleets.

The importance of this study has been recognised to such an extent that the GFCM-SAC has nominated this team of scientists as its official GFCM-SAC dolphin-fish Working Group.

Mr Camilleri's prestigious appointments and his participation in these programmes puts Malta in the forefront among the key contributors to the enhancement of scientific knowledge and the international effort being made for the proper management of fisheries resources in the Mediterranean basin.