Lahsen Ababouch
International expert, fisheries, aquaculture and blue economy.
Dr Lahsen Ababouch is a former director of the FAO division in charge of fisheries and aquaculture trade, economics and policy from 2000 to 2016. Since 2016, he has carried out many tasks as senior advisor and international expert for FAO, UNIDO and UNCTAD and for non-UN organizations, industry and academia. In 2023/2024, he was manager of and technical editor of SOFIA 2024 and technical adviser to GFCM, UNIDO and SIPPO on areas related to blue economy, trade, market access and sustainable fish and seafood value chains.
Before joining FAO, he was Professor at the King Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine, in Rabat, Morocco, where he held teaching, research and advisory positions for agro-industry outreach, trade agreements and agribusiness. He has authored/co-authored over 135 papers, books and book chapters, and presented over 250 communications.
He was awarded the King Baudouin Award for Excellence in Research by the International Foundation for Science (Sweden, 1996); the Distinguished Leadership Award for Internationals by the University of Minnesota (USA, 2004), and the Special recognition Award of the International Association of Seafood Professionals (2009). In 2021, he was nominated a University of Minnesota Hunger Fighter, on the occasion of the 50th Nobel Peace Prize Anniversary of Dr. Norman Borlaug.