1. The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) held its Twenty-ninth session at FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy, from 21 to 25 February 2005.
2. The Session was attended by delegates from all (24) Members of the Commission. Observers from the Russian Federation, the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS), the European Bureau for Conservation and Development (EBCD), the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the Mediterranean Association of Fisheries Organizations (MEDISAMAK), The World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) also attended. The list of delegates and observers is given in Appendix B to this report.
3. The Session was called to order by Mr Abdellatif Berraho, Chairperson of the Commission, who welcomed the participants.
4. On behalf of the Director-General of FAO, Mr Jacques Diouf, and of Mr Ichiro Nomura, Assistant Director-General, Fisheries Department, FAO, Mr Pulvenis de Séligny, Director of the Fishery Policy and Planning Division of the Fisheries Department, welcomed the delegates and wished them success in their endeavours. He recalled that this session would mark the launching of a new era for GFCM, in particular with the selection of the Executive Secretary and the choice of new headquarters for the Commission. He thanked the three countries (Spain, Italy and Malta) which had come forward with generous offers to host the Commission. He highlighted the increased level of activities as well as of participation in the work of the Commission, both in terms of countries and fields of knowledge and expertise, and stressed the continuing importance of the role played by the regional projects. He expressed the satisfaction of FAO for these positive developments and reiterated the commitment of the Organization to continue bringing support to the Commission. The full statement of Mr Pulvenis de Séligny is attached as Appendix D.
