GFCM headquarters, Rome. The GFCM Chairperson, Stefano Cataudella, and the GFCM Executive Secretary, Abdellah Srour, welcomed today at GFCM headquarters the European Commissioner Karmenu Vella, responsible for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, as well as a delegation of several EU representatives. This visit was an opportunity to discuss the most important issues at stake for the conservation of marine living resources in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. After a fruitful exchange of views, both the EU and the GFCM reaffirmed their common goals and strong willingness to keep working towards the achievement of UN sustainable development goals in the context of food security, Blue Growth and healthy oceans. In this respect, several key areas of cooperation were identified, such as information exchange and data collection, sustainable aquaculture development, regional and subregional capacity-building and small-scale fisheries. The European Commissioner also expressed the support of the EU to the GFCM initiative of declaring an International Day for the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.