General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean - GFCM

The human face behind the RPOA-SSF: 9 topics, 9 features

Small-scale fisheries make up 83% of the fleet in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, employ 127 000 people and generate USD 1.04 billion of revenue. Nevertheless, as impressive as these figures are, they don’t show the human dimension behind them. What they don’t show is the families that have worked together for generations, the living communities that small-scale fishers underpin and the unique regional cultures which their traditions have animated over hundreds of years. 

Over the next year, we’ll be running a series of 9 features exploring what each topic of the Regional Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea (RPOA-SSF) means in practice to small-scale fishers across the Mediterranean and Black Sea, taking a deeper dive into the human context of sustainability.

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2022 the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022). This is an important recognition of the millions of small-scale fishers, fish farmers and fish workers who provide healthy and nutritious food to billions of people and contribute to achieving Zero Hunger.

The GFCM series "9 topics, 9 features' aims to contribute to IYAFA 2022 as well as highlights the main results and successes of regional initiatives, projects, and above all, the work of Mediterranean and Black Sea fishers and fish workers. 

Together, let's celebrate #IYAFA2022!