General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean - GFCM

Partners

Partnerships are crucial to the work of the GFCM, both to implement actions on the ground and to share and develop knowledge and best practices across the region.

Partners with a memorandum of understanding

  • ACCOBAMS – Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area
  • AOAD – Arab Organization for Agricultural Development 
  • ATLAFCO – Ministerial Conference on Fisheries Cooperation Among African States Bordering the Atlantic Ocean 
  • Black Sea Commission – The Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution
  • CIHEAM-IAMZ – Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza (IAMZ) of the International Centre for Advanced Agronomic Mediterranean Studies (CIHEAM)
  • Eurofish – International Organisation for the Development of Fisheries in Central and Eastern Europe 
  • ICES – International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
  • INFOSAMAK – Centre for Marketing, Information and Advisory Services for Fishery Products in the Arab Region 
  • IUCN-Med  – International Union for Conservation of Nature – Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation 
  • Med-AC – Mediterranean Advisory Council 
  • MedPAN – Network of Marine Protected Area Managers in the Mediterranean 
  • NEAFC – North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission 
  • OceanCare 
  • UfM – Union for the Mediterranean 
  • UNEP-MAP – United Nations Environment Programme – Mediterranean Action Plan for the Barcelona Convention 
  • WWF – World Wide Fund for Nature

        Other key partners

        The GFCM also cooperates with other organizations to foster synergies and avoid duplications, maximizing the strategic and operational advantages each can bring to the Commission’s work. 

        • BISAC – Black Sea Advisory Council 
        • CIESM – International Commission for the Scientific Exploration of the Mediterranean Sea
        • EBCD – European Bureau for Conservation and Development
        • EFCA – European Fisheries Control Agency
        • ICCAT – International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna
        • LIFE – Low Impact Fishers of Europe Platform 
        • MSC – Marine Stewardship Council
        • Oceana
        • Pelagos – Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute
        • RAC/SPA – Specially Protected Areas Regional Activity Centre

        UN partnerships

        The GFCM works with the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS), Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO), the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Division and FAO Mediterranean projects to translate global objectives into regional action, using the expertise and experience these other UN bodies bring to develop our work on sustainable fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. 

        FAO regional projects

        • AdriaMed – Scientific Cooperation to Support Responsible Fisheries in the Adriatic Sea
        • MedSudMed – Assessment and Monitoring of the Fishery Resources and the Ecosystems in the Straits of Sicily

        Academia

        The GFCM partners with various universities to develop education, research and technological capacities across the region with the ultimate aim of creating a global partnership with the scientific community.