By
Dr. J. Eric Reynolds
LIBFISH Project Manager
Distinguished Guests, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Aquaculture-related activities are central to the fulfillment of Project LIBFISH objectives, and an exceedingly ambitious programme of work was laid out in the original Project formulation. Unfortunately progress towards the achievement of Aquaculture-related outputs lagged to some extent until March 1994, owing mainly to delays in crucial rehabilitation work on MBRC facilities and to difficulties in recruiting a Senior Aquaculture Advisor to serve on the FAO team. This situation was resolved through consultations between officials of SMW/MBRC, FAO, UNDP and Project officials which resulted in an agreement under which the former Project Manager/Aquaculture Advisor would assume fulltime duties as Senior Aquaculture Advisor.
A new workplan for the Aquaculture component was drafted in March 1994 and reviewed first in May 1994 in a meeting involving the PM, Aquaculture Advisor, and National Project Coordinator, and again in June 1994 in a more general meeting involving Project, MBRC, and Aquaculture Institute (AI) officials. A problem is that the original timeframe for the Aquaculture component activities is 30 months, whereas it is only possible to accomodate 12 months within the remaining Project budget. The original plan also made provision for a total of 12 months' worth of specialist consultant time for providing technical backstopping to the work programme. Virtually all of this allocation has also fallen victim to budget constraints.
Under the circumstances it was decided to draft the new workplan in terms of an initial 12 month phase, with a recommended follow-on phase to remain contingent upon extension and the availability of funding. Full-scale establishment and operation of pilot aquaculture facilities at the MBRC (Outputs 2.2, 2.3, & 2.4 refer) have been identified as activities for the follow-on phase, except that, after consultation with Aquaculture Institute colleagues, efforts will be made to support fish hatchery development activities in Khoms (Ain Kaam Farm) as much as possible in the initial 12 month phase. The counterpart team for the Aquaculture component also was strengthened considerably and is now comprised of 24 MBRC and AI personnel serving on a full-time or part-time basis.
With the new programme now well underway, and with the addition of new national counterpart personnel including several individuals who are willing to devote themselves and not shy away from the physical and mental effort involved, we are witnessing a significant acceleration of activities under the Aquaculture component. The present workshop, which is number fourteen in the series of technical training/review workshop activities that has been organised in association with Project LIBFISH, provides one strong proof of this welcome development.
I hope that all participants have found the proceedings to be useful and instructive, and should like to thank everybody for their attendance. Particular thanks are due to Drs. F. Vallet and D.S. Dawid for their efforts in making this workshop possible, and to Messrs. N. Elkebir, A. Abu Issa, G. Paulose, and M. Hamada for their assistance in various preparatory arrangements. We owe a special vote of gratitude to Dr. Agius for his visit here and for sharing with us the benefits of his extensive practical experience in the field. I hope that his visit marks the beginnings of much more intensive and frequent collaboration between the Malta National Aquaculture Institute and the MBRC.
Thank you all very much.
