Funding
A diverse array of funding sources, both regular and extra-budgetary, is key to enable the GFCM to fulfill its mandate for the sustainable management and development of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries and aquaculture.
Core functioning
The core functioning of the GFCM relies on its autonomous budget, adopted yearly and funded by its 23 contracting parties. It covers core Secretariat staff, meetings of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies, and the basic execution of essential and institutional activities, as well as ancillary costs. Additionally, the Government of Italy hosts and provides for the GFCM headquarters at Palazzo Blumenstihl, Rome.
Voluntary contributions
In line with GFCM and national priorities, some contracting parties contribute additional funds for the implementation of the GFCM 2030 Strategy. Other resource partners, such as global funds and non-governmental and other intergovernmental entities, support projects that are carried out– fully or in partnership – by the GFCM and aligned with the international agenda and with specific strategic objectives.
Voluntary contributions in 2024
USD 15.2 million
in voluntary contributions received from two main resource partners
USD 12.2 million
allocated for the implementation of the GFCM 2030 Strategy
More than 70%
of total funding committed for capacity development interventions
Top resource partner
for voluntary contributions is the European Union
The GFCM extra-budgetary funding currently comes from contributions provided by the following donors, most of whom are GFCM contracting parties:
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.
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 living marine 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 (ABNJ) more sustainable and reducing their ecological footprint.
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 work 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 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. This kind of support is particularly common from countries hosting a GFCM subregional technical unit, a GFCM aquaculture demonstration centre or other such infrastructure.
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 to 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), which provided the foundations for a considerable increase in extra-budgetary funding and technical work.