General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean - GFCM

GFCM Champions

In the last decade, the GFCM has made great progress thanks to the commitment of countries, institutions and partners.

On the occasion of the GFCM’s 70th anniversary, we want to highlight some of the individuals whose work make this possible.

Ibrahim AL HAWI
CAQ Chairperson

"Our collaboration with the GFCM started a long time ago, and with them, we did a lot of achievements.
With them also, our sector is developing and moving to a better situation."  

Hamadi Mejri
COC Chairperson

"I'm very proud to be part of this success and achievements, especially the new tools made available to support the countries in improving legal and operational compliance at the national and regional levels."

Alaa Eldin EL HAWEET
SAC Chairperson

"I'm looking to continue working with the other partners in the countries to develop and to conserve the fisheries resources  for achieving food security and providing sustainable livelihood of the nations." 

Galin Nikolov
Coordinator of the Working Group on the Black Sea

"For me, a great success is the creation and operation of a coordination unit that played a major role in the interrelationship between the fishing and scientific communities."

Valérie Lainé
Head of Unit, European Commission  

"We are proud of the progress accomplished thanks to the unconditional support of all the countries. This support took shape through the adoption of the MedFish4Ever and Sofia Declaration and the GFCM 2030 Strategy."

Paule Gros 
Director Mediterranean programs, MAVA

"We are proud of the results – those results we jointly obtained in terms of reconciliating fishing and biodiversity conservation – and all of this in collaboration with fishers."

Stefano Cataudella
Former GFCM Chairperson

"I'm confident that FAO GFCM in a peaceful environment will facilitate the cooperation among the Member States. Diplomacy still remains the best tool for peace." 

Marco Costantini
Regional Fisheries Manager, WWF

"Our collaboration with the GFCM is a natural consequence of the fact that we share a vision. We would like to see this marvellous sea protected."

Abdellah Srour
Former GFCM Executive Secretary

"There has been a very intense and fruitful collaboration, and a confidence that has developed between members, partner organizations and the Secretariat." 

Fabienne McLellan
OceanCare

"We are very happy to partner with the GFCM, because it is the best place for us to ensure conservation and sustainable use of the area of application. It has the authority to adopt binding recommendations, and actually enforces them."

Mark Dickey-Collas
Lotte Worsøe Clausen
ICES

"Our collaboration with the GFCM has shown a huge change. The GFCM has made remarkable moves forward in terms of generally considering fisheries within the ecosystem, and also the ecosystem’s effect on those fisheries"

Susana Salvador
Executive Secretary, ACCOBAMS

"Our perception is a really good and excellent one because we saw the GFCM widening its approach from being solely focused on fisheries to trying and managing to accommodate biodiversity and environmental issues."