Sustainably exploited.
[The GFCM methodology to provide stock status and management advice is described in the Appendix F of the Sixteenth Session of the Scientific Advisory Committee Report. See the Bibliography section.]

Stock assessment in the GFCM area of application is often conducted by management units, based on GSAs. This method does not ensure that the whole stock is assessed, since stocks may cover several different management units. In some cases, when there is scientific evidence of a stock spreading through different GSAs, as well as information on species from different GSAs, existing information is combined across GSAs. This is then defined as a “joint stock assessment of a shared stock”. The GFCM recommends that when scientific evidence of shared stocks exists, joint stock assessments should be attempted. A number of activities aimed at achieving a better definition of stock boundaries are currently being conducted at the GFCM level. [The State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries, 2016]

Red mullet is one of the main coastal demersal resources in the Mediterranean; it is fished by otter trawls, trammel nets and gillnets. Red mullet is caught together with other important species, such as striped red mullet, European hake, seabreams and pandoras (Pagellus spp), stargazer (Uranoscopus scaber), rays (Raja spp.), weevers (Trachinus spp.), common octopus, common cuttlefish, horned and musky octopuses (Eledone spp.), and anglerfish (Lophius spp.). Red mullet is fished by trawling, almost exclusively on the shelf bottom. Based on available knowledge, the red mullet inhabiting the continental shelf of GSA 15 is considered as a separate stock unit. The average annual Maltese landing from trawlers for the period 2009-2019 was 16 tonnes.