Matthew Camilleri, a fisheries science and management expert at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in Rome, has been appointed fishery liaison officer within the FAO’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy and Economics Division.

Dr Camilleri will be responsible for the monitoring, promotion and assessment worldwide of the implementation of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. He will also be involved in the monitoring of global fisheries governance affairs and the work of selected regional fisheries management organisations operating across the world. Dr Camilleri is also a member of the FAO team responsible for the preparation and organisation of the biennial session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries, the only global inter-governmental forum where major issues are examined and recommendations addressed to governments, regional fishery bodies, NGOs, fish workers, FAO and the international community.

Dr Camilleri graduated in Fisheries Science and Ocean Science from the University of Plymouth and went on to obtain a Ph.D from the university.

His thesis focused on “Maltese fisheries and the sustainability of resources around the Maltese Islands”.

He is a chartered biologist and a Member of the Society of Biology of the UK.

Dr Camilleri joined the FAO in 2007 after having served as a consultant to the Maltese government on fisheries management and as head of the Malta Centre for Fisheries Sciences between 1998 and 2007. During that time, he played a key role in developing the Maltese fisheries sector and in building Malta’s capacity to monitor and manage its fisheries in line with European Union requirements.

He also held the responsibility of national focal point for FAO regional scientific projects and for scientific programmes of the European Union and was involved in the activities of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean and the work of its subsidiary committees.