In the Mediterranean region, access to national legislations on the management and conservation of marine living resources and ecosystems is limited, and information can be hard to find, particularly for users without a legal background. GFCM-Lex offers a multilingual online platform (GFCM-Lex) with relevant fisheries and aquaculture legislation from member countries, as well as capacity-building mechanisms at the national and regional levels to enhance cooperation between countries in the region. The platform focuses on the work undertaken in close cooperation with the project’s beneficiary countries – Albania, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, and Türkiye – resulting in  retrieving, analysing and storing national legislations on fisheries and aquaculture stemming from recommendations adopted by the GFCM. 

The project that was implemented between December 2019-October 2022, evolved from an effort to assist beneficiary countries in fulfilling their obligations to transpose GFCM recommendations into their national legislations into a user-friendly information hub offering access to relevant fisheries legislation from different countries. At the same time, the platform contributes to support capacity building activities with the aim to share knoledge and expertises on topics related to small, scale fisheries, IUU fishing and social protection.  

Among the partners of the GFCM-Lex there are FAO, the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP-MAP), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari (CIHEAM Bari) and the World Maritime University (WMU).