On the week of the celebration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, the City Council of Málaga and FAO have signed an administrative agreement for the establishment of a Technical Unit of the GFCM in Malaga. 

“This agreement consolidates the active role that Spain plays in the management of western Mediterranean fisheries,” declared the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas. “We are committed to collaborating with the activities of the GFCM’s technical unit in the protection of the fishing resources of this region so important for Spain.” 

“There is no alternative to the sustainable exploitation of marine resources,” said Manuel Barange, Director of FAO’s Fisheries Division. “Today more than ever we need examples of successful policies for fisheries and aquaculture management, and I hope that this Unit, with the determined support of all the necessary actors, including the City Council, the Government of Spain and the governments of the riparian countries of the Western Mediterranean, become an example to follow.”

This technical unit is part of a network the GFCM is developing within the five Mediterranean and Black Sea subregions. This network implements the subregional approach adopted by the GFCM to support the management of fisheries at the subregional level, taking into account the needs and specificities of each subregion. 

 “For the GFCM, the Alboran Sea facing Malaga, is an essential platform for exchange and an exemplary space for collaboration between the different countries of the western Mediterranean”, said the GFCM Executive Secretary, Abdellah Srour. “Therefore, the creation of a subregional technical unit in Malaga constitutes a considerable step towards achieving the GFCM’s objectives for the conservation and sustainable use of living marine resources and the sustainable development of aquaculture”. 

In this context, the Malaga unit will play an active role in promoting cooperation in the western Mediterranean and facilitating dialogue on major regional issues and on cross-border challenges relating to fisheries and aquaculture in countries such as Algeria, France, Italy, Morocco and of course Spain.

The subregional unit is the active arm of the GFCM to help its countries to effectively meet their commitments to the GFCM taking into account their national needs, while supporting their coastal communities and all those involved in the value chain from which they derive their livelihoods.

To carry out its tasks successfully, the unit will count on the support provided by all the stakeholders concerned, whether they are local and national administrations and authorities, scientific and research institutes but also fishers and fishers’ associations. It is counting in particular on the support of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, through its branch in Malaga, which has always contributed through its expertise to the success of the CGPM's activities in the region.

“The Mediterranean is our common heritage, it protects us and we must in turn preserve it so that it remains a valuable asset for all countries and economies in the region, for all coastal communities and for future generations.”
Abdellah Srour, GFCM Executive Secretary.

Fisher at Puerto Fuengirola ©FAO/A.Kadiri