In collaboration with the ISESCO, PERSGA held a regional training workshop on “Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management “during 12-14 October 2009 at PERSGA HQ in Jeddah. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Derek Staples (Australia) and Dr. Ahmed Khalil (LMR Program, PERSGA). The training was attended by fisheries and marine environment specialists from PERSGA countries (Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen) and from some other ISESCO member states, including Bahrain, Oman and Iran.

The workshop program included three components, comprising principles and practices of the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF), review of the current activities related to EAF in the region, and hands on activities on use of EAF, which includes the four steps of scoping, issue identification, prioritization and risk analysis, and setting of objectives, management strategies and performance measure. A final session discussed action planning for PERSGA region, coming out with recommendations and a framework of an Action Plan for implementing EAF in the management of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden fisheries.