International Ocean Governance and the role of partnerships at the centre of the GFCM Executive Secretary intervention at EP Intergroup event
Miguel Bernal, Executive Secretary of FAO’s General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) participated in a panel discussion on international ocean governance and the Sustainable Ocean Initiative (SOI) Global Dialogue with Regional Seas Organizations and Regional Fishery Bodies. The event was organized by the European Parliament (EP) Intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, and hosted by MEP Catherine Chabaud, co-chair of the ‘Ocean Governance’ Working Group of the EP Intergroup.
The Sustainable Ocean Initiative (SOI) Global Dialogue with Regional Seas Organizations and Regional Fishery Bodies was created in 2016 to facilitate improved cooperation at the regional scale to achieve global goals. The SOI Global Dialogue is coordinated by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), FAO and UNEP.
In his intervention, Miguel Bernal underlined the primary objective of the GFCM in ensuring the conservation and sustainable use of living marine resources, alongside the sustainable development of aquaculture, through regional cooperation. In this regard, the GFCM plays a critical role in fisheries governance in the regions of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and has a history of cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme/Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP).
Other participants included representatives from the Secretariat of the CBD, the UN Division on Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, the SOI Global Dialogue, the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM), the Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC), the European Commission’s Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) and Environment (DG ENV) and the Committee of the Regions.
To read more about the GFCM 2030 Strategy for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea click here.