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General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean

Funding

A diverse array of funding sources are crucial for the GFCM to fulfill its mandate.

Institutional functioning

The institutional functioning of the GFCM relies on its autonomous budget, adopted yearly and funded by the 24 contracting parties, and on the GFCM headquarters, where the Secretariat is mainly based, provided by the host country Italy.

Contracting Parties

Since 1994, the GFCM counts on an autonomous budget – currently averaging 3.2 million USD per year – which covers skeleton Secretariat staff, sessions of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies, main institutional activities as well as ancillary costs.

Italy

The Government of Italy hosts, since 2011, the GFCM headquarters at Palazzo Blumenstihl, Rome, providing the premises and ensuring their maintenance through a direct yearly contribution. Independent headquarters have marked an important milestone for the GFCM in terms of image and representation.

Voluntary contributions and projects

Select contracting parties contribute additional funds for the implementation of priority workplan activities. Other resource partners, such as global funds and other international entities, support projects aligned with the international agenda and with specific strategic objectives that are carried out – fully or through partnerships – by the GFCM.

USD 11.5 million

in voluntary contributions received in 2026

More than 70%

of total funding committed for capacity development interventions

Top resource partner

for voluntary contributions is the European Union

European Union  

The European Union (EU) contributes yearly to advancing the GFCM agenda by providing funds for the implementation of the GFCM workplan and strategic initiatives. This backing is crucial for the effective functioning of GFCM advisory mechanisms in fisheries, aquaculture and compliance, as well as for targeted capacity development, connecting science and policy for informed decision making, fostering regional dialogue and cooperation, securing sustainable livelihoods, and establishing a robust legal regulatory framework to support united efforts.

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Global Environment Facility 

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has endorsed three projects executed by the GFCM. The two “Fisheries and ecosystem-based management” (FishEBM) projects – one for the Mediterranean and one for the Black Sea – support reversing the overexploitation of select commercial marine living resources in the region. These projects tap into the social and economic potential of fisheries in the region, supporting capacity building for fisheries management while promoting the profitability, resilience and sustainability of the sector. The third project, the “Common Oceans deep-sea fisheries” project, is committed to making deep-sea fisheries in the ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction more sustainable and reducing their ecological footprint.

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France

The Government of France, through its Ministry of Ecology Transition, Biodiversity, Forests, Sea and Fisheries, sponsors a Junior Professional Officer based at the Secretariat headquarters in Rome to support GFCM’s policy work, with a focus on fisheries and environment.

Spain

The Government of Spain, through its Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, has provided funds annually since 2015, placing an emphasis on strategic field work in the western Mediterranean.

In-kind support and co-funding

Select contracting parties and other partners further sustain the GFCM’s work by bearing the costs of specific activities or meetings, making available national facilities, equipment and expertise and/or complementing the costs of some activities at the country level. Most notably, Bulgaria, Spain and Croatia host the GFCM subregional technical units for the Black Sea (Burgas), western Mediterranean (Málaga) and Adriatic Sea (Split) since 2018, 2020 and 2024 respectively, while Bulgaria, Egypt, Greece, Romania, Spain, Tunisia and Türkiye provide the facilities and operational support to the GFCM Aquaculture Demonstration Centres set up across the region.

 

Past contributions

The GFCM has benefited from extra-budgetary funding since 2008, first through ad hoc projects, then in the context of its Framework Programme (2013–2017), which was set up to start catering for increasing voluntary contributions, and subsequently under the umbrella of its various strategies (the mid-term fisheries strategy and aquaculture strategy over 2017–2020 and the GFCM 2030 Strategy since 2021).

About

The State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries 2025

The State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date review of the status and trends of fisheries and aquaculture in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

GFCM 2030 Strategy
GFCM 2030 Strategy