"The Coordinating Action (hereafter ""the project"") will establish an effective collaboration network among key role players in Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries research and management. The participants in the project include national research institutes from Mediterranean and Black Sea countries with a long history and active participation in fisheries research and assessment, who provide advice to national, regional and international fisheries management organisms. The project will seek the active collaboration of regional and international fisheries management organisms as external participants in the project, in order to identify the gaps (in terms of data, knowledge, training, coordination) which hamper at present the full application of the Ecosystem Approach in the management of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries. The project will have a strong training and capacity building component in order to help harmonize data collection and methodologies used in fisheries assessment and management in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. The project will serve to establish the guidelines for the application of the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, both in EU member states and third countries. The project is organized in 6 workpackages:i) Project Coordinationii) Review of current knowledge in data collection and methodological practices in assessment and managementiii) Identification of data needs, quality, harmonization, methodologies and models for EAFiv) Establishing coordination with the assessment and management international/regional bodiesv) Training and capacity building. Symposium. Dissemination componentvi) Strengthening the scientific basis of EAF application in Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries"