The first step towards achieving the conservation and sustainable use of living marine resources exploited by fishing activities is to gain an understanding of the current status and health of commercial stocks and fisheries. This work provides the technical building blocks for the formulation of scientific advice, including forecasts of future status, which guides decision-makers in the determination of the most appropriate management and conservation measures to be included in binding recommendations.

Within the GFCM, stock assessments are performed and evaluated through the Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (SAC) and its Working Groups for Stock Assessment (WGSAs) in the Mediterranean, as well as through the Working Group on the Black Sea (WGBS) and its Subregional Group on Stock Assessment for the Black Sea (SGSABS). All the input and output information from validated stock assessments are summarized in Stock Assessment Forms (SAFs), which are published online every year. Recently, the stock assessment results (STAR) framework has been introduced, comprising a detailed, standardized database of all stock assessment results. Its aims are to streamline and automate the information flow from stock assessments to scientific advice, strengthen quality assurance and data dissemination, and serve as a foundation for a variety of quality-controlled data products related to the management of fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, which are published online every year.

The SAFs and the STAR framework provide detailed information on the status of specific stocks (mainly, but not limited to, GFCM priority species) as well as the basis for the overall assessment of the status of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries resources performed every two presented in The State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries.