DANIA BEACH, Fla. – January 9, 2019 – The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) recently announced the appointment of a new European & Mediterranean Regional Council led by IGFA Trustee and Council Chair Massimo Brogna of Italy.

“We are very excited about the launch of the first of our new regional councils,” said IGFA President Nehl Horton. “The creation of the European & Mediterranean Council is a significant step toward our goal of strengthening the IGFA’s presence and impact around the globe.”

The purpose of the new IGFA Regional Councils is to create local organizational structures to help the IGFA drive its mission of game fish conservation and promotion of ethical angling practices around the world. IGFA Regional Councils will assist IGFA headquarters in maintaining and cultivating relationships with IGFA clubs, captains, weigh stations and members in their respective regions.

“The appointment of this first IGFA Region Council represents a great opportunity to further the efforts of the IGFA in our region of the world,” said Council Chairman Massimo Brogna. “I am excited about the team we have put together and confident that their expertise will help the IGFA achieve great things for the recreational angling community throughout the European & Mediterranean Region.”

Following a recent regional meeting in Barcelona, Spain, IGFA trustees, representatives, members, captains and club representatives residing in the region participated in a two-week nomination process to recommend council officers and committee members. A total of 47 nominations were received and reviewed by IGFA staff and European trustees.

After careful deliberation, the following individuals were selected as officers of the new IGFA European & Mediterranean Regional Council.

COUNCIL CHAIRMAN

Massimo Brogna (Italy)

After serving as an IGFA Representative for more than 12 years, during which he recruited more than 400 new members to the organization and helped grow the IGFA throughout the region, Brogna was elected to the IGFA Board of Trustees in 2016. A passionate angler since age five, Brogna is a strong advocate for ethical angling practices and has worked with fellow IGFA Representatives on tagging research programs for Atlantic bluefin tuna. He was instrumental in the first ever deployment of an IGFA Great Marlin Race satellite tag on a Mediterranean spearfish in 2017. Massimo currently serves as the Italian President of the European Federation of Sea Anglers (EFSA), a delegate for European Union Affairs, was a founding member of Circolo Pesca D’Altura-Catania and is the tournament director for the Italian Deep Sea Trolling Championship.

CONSERVATION COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

Pierre Affre (France)

IGFA Trustee Pierre Affre is a veterinarian, author, documentarist, and champion big-game fly angler and caster who began his contributions to the organization as a representative from France in the 1980s. Affre’s passion for fly fishing is matched only by his dedication to the conservation of game fish, specifically in the European & Mediterranean region. During his lifetime, Affre has written hundreds of articles and 20 books on sport fishing and fish conservation and has also produced more than 50 documentary movies in France centered on comparing the economic impacts of recreational fishing in the U.S. and Europe.

EDUCATION COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

Lorenzo Roca (Spain)

An angler since the early 1960s, Lorenzo Roca fishes an average of 200 days per year. His love for the sport has taken him all over the globe in search of the next adventure. He has won more than 100 local tournaments and has competed in hundreds more. Serving as an IGFA Representative for Spain since 2014, Roca’s love for fishing has motivated him to spearhead efforts to ensure that future generations can enjoy the sport through his involvement in bluefin tuna tagging programs, and most recently through his “Kids School” initiative that has taught more than 1,000 children to fish since its inception in 2018.

RULES AND RECOGNITION COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

Elvio Pennetti (Turkey)

Elvio Pennetti was appointed as an IGFA Representative in 2004 and has been an avid proponent and advocate for the development of sport fishing in Turkey for years. Pennetti has made countless guest speaking engagements at fishing clubs throughout Turkey and has attended several meetings of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) as a representative of his country’s recreational angling community. Additionally, Pennetti played a key role developing the first offshore fishing competitions in Turkey, which strictly adhere to IGFA rules.

DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

Ignasi Ferrer (Spain)

Ignasi Ferrer has worked extensively to develop and promote recreational angling as a socio-economic benefit in Spain and throughout Europe. Ferrer was appointed as an IGFA Representative in 2016 and currently serves as the president of the Catalan Association of Responsible Fishing in Spain. Over the past decade, Ferrer has helped to develop several citizen-science tagging projects for bluefin tuna and has worked closely with government agencies in the European Union to develop sustainable models for recreational angling.

OTHER COUNCIL COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Conservation Committee

• Omar Ardati

• Alvis Birkovs

• Yann Giulio

• Armando Piccinini

• Ahmed Shaker

Education Committee

• Andrey Grigoriev

• Serdar Gunseren

• Roberto Ripamonti

• Raul Roca

• Endrik Tonsberg

Rules and Recognition Committee

• Giacomo Forti

• Sandro Onofaro

• Johan Pettersson

• Bruno Sares

• Marc Werquin

Development Committee

• Yann Giulio

• Michel Marchandise

• Andre Montocchio

• Gregory Tordjeman