Fishery resources: between ecology and economy.

The complexity in the management of marine biological resources is due to the manifold variables concerning environmental phenomena, technological aspects and socio-economic problems as well as the uncertainties in the assessment of stochastic processes related to the exploited populations. After a short review of the state of art at world level, the authors focus on the Mediterranean and Italian seas providing information on global capture production of fishery resources and economical aspects of fishery, raising the need for a management approach that should be robust with uncertainties, suitable for multi-species fisheries and that meets ecosystem objectives. In this respect, the authors report the main recommendations of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and measures indicated in the Council Regulation (EC) 1967/2006 and Marine Strategy Framework Directive.