The first AdriaMed Meeting on the Adriatic Sea Fishery Associations was held in Split, Croatia on the 17th – 18th July 2001. The meeting was attended by 29 participants from Albania, Croatia, Italy and Slovenia. The main objective of the meeting was to gain knowledge of the organizational system of the fishery sector at Adriatic level; to discuss the fishery associations’ priorities at basin level; to identify and propose topics of cooperation; to support the establishment of a network of fishery associations of the Adriatic Sea as a permanent Working Group. A brief presentation of the FAO AdriaMed Project was given to the participants and recent developments of the main activities were illustrated. An overview of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries was presented: the background and historical development of the Code, its nature and objectives and selected features of its content were highlighted.
The representatives of the fisheries associations of the Adriatic Sea expressed strong support for the provision of the Code, noting among other points the important role to be played by resource users in order to achieve responsible fisheries. The need to develop every aspect of fisheries cooperation at Adriatic Sea basin level was strongly advocated. A brief overview of the fishery sectors in each participating country was given. A memorandum on common and priority topics highlighted during the meeting was issued.