Javier Garat

Javier Garat earned a degree in Law and Graduate in European Law from the Complutense University of Madrid (CEU San Pablo) and a master’s degree in International and European Law from the Catholic University of Leuven (U.C.L. Belgium).

He was a trainee in the Fisheries Team of the Legal Service of the European Commission, assistant to the Fisheries Counselor of the Spanish Permanent Representation to the European Union, and a lawyer in the Dutch International Law Firm Nauta Dutilh before joining the Spanish Federation of Fisheries Organizations (FEOPE) as Secretary General in 2001. Since then, he has focused his work on Spanish fisheries’ interests around the world.

In 2007, Mr. Garat became the Secretary General of the Spanish Fishing Confederation Cepesca. In addition to serving on the ISSF Board of Directors, he is President of PESCA ESPAÑA, Association of Producers Organizations; President of the Association of National Organizations of Fishing Enterprises in the European Union (Europêche); Member of the European Economic and Social Committee; and an Academic from the Spanish Royal Academy of the Sea. In 2023 he was elected as President of the Spanish Maritime Cluster and of the Blue Economy Commission of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations.

Mr. Garat also is a member of the Management Board of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, the Advisory Committee for the Spanish Fisheries Sector, and the Spanish Maritime Cluster as well as a Counselor of the General Council of the Marine Social Institute.

He has been a lecturer at the Universidad Intercontinental de la Empresa (UIE), Spanish Maritime Institute, University of Vigo, University of Santiago de Compostela, and International Labor Organization (ILO) and participated in public hearings and numerous international and national fisheries forums. He has chaired the International Coalition of Fisheries Associations (ICFA) and served on other advisory committees.