Page 30 - AA 2026

Libya

Reinforces its involvement within the GFCM

to boost food security

Fisheries and aquaculture play
a vital role in Libya’s food security
and coastal livelihoods. With the
longest Mediterranean coastline in
Africa, Libya is well placed to lever-
age its marine potential to support
national development and economic
resilience. Building on this strategic
asset, Libya is strengthening coop-
eration within the General Fisheries
Commission for the Mediterranean
(GFCM) to ensure the sustainable
management of its marine resources
for present and future generations.
Investing in science for effective
fisheries governance
species. nical expertise, production capacity
Libya has a long standing tradition
of fish consumption and relies on ma- These activities, financed through and innovation.”
rine capture fisheries to supply its the voluntary contribution of the Strengthening compliance to pro-
markets. With more than 3 500 ves- European Union to the GFCM, are tect marine resources and fishers
sels in operation, the country ranks reinforcing Libya’s capacity to un- Through the FishEBM Med project,
seventh among the Mediterranean derstand, monitor and sustainably funded by the Global Environment
fishing fleets. manage its fisheries over time. Facility, the GFCM is further sup-
Revitalizing aquaculture through
In recent years, Libya has strength- porting Libya in its efforts to combat
ened cooperation with the GFCM regional expertise and innovation illegal, unreported and unregulated
to advance science based fisheries Through regional cooperation, the fishing. Activities include assessing
governance. Support has focused GFCM is also supporting Libya’s ef- legislative gaps, strengthening na-
on establishing a national fisheries forts to revitalize its aquaculture sec- tional frameworks, and training au-
monitoring system covering catch, tor. Support includes technical as- thorities on monitoring, control and
discard and fleet data, expanding sistance and training, as well as the surveillance using new technologies,
scientific surveys and stock assess- provision of high quality seabass fry in cooperation with counterparts from
ments, and enhancing national tech- produced by the GFCM Aquaculture across the Mediterranean.
nical capacity. Demonstration Centre in Alexandria, Strengthening Libya’s role in re-
Egypt.
With GFCM support, Libya con- gional cooperation for sustainable
ducted two scientific surveys at sea in By connecting Libyan producers fisheries
the Ionian Sea in 2024 and 2025, con- with regional expertise, infrastruc- With the recent election of Dr Saber
tributing to improved assessments of ture and training opportunities, the Al-Azabi, Deputy Minister of the Min-
key demersal resources – namely fish GFCM is helping restart aquaculture istry of Marine Resources of Libya, as
species that live and feed on or near activities in a sustainable and resil- second vice chair of the GFCM Bu-
the seabed. Additional surveys are ient manner. The initiative aims not
planned for 2026 and 2027 to build only to relaunch production, but also reau, Libya is further reinforcing its
a consistent scientific data series to build a modern, sustainable aqua- role in regional fisheries governance.
aligned with regional standards. In culture sector aligned with regional This reflects a clear commitment to
parallel, the GFCM is assisting Libya best practices. collective action, reinforcing coop-
in establishing a comprehensive na- “Through this regional approach, eration as a cornerstone for sustain-
tional fisheries monitoring system Libya is not working alone”, said able fisheries and aquaculture, food
and has procured an otolith reading Miguel Bernal. “It is part of a wider security and resilient coastal liveli-
machine to strengthen national ca- Mediterranean and Black Sea net- hoods across the Mediterranean and
pacity for age determination of fish work in which countries share tech- the Black Sea.
28 Arab Agriculture 2026