8. At the Twenty-sixth Session in 1998, the Commission abolished its four standing working parties in line with Resolution 13/97 of the FAO Conference and established three ad hoc Working Groups of Experts to discuss issues on food safety of fishery and aquaculture products, on capture fishery data collection and on rural aquaculture. The meetings of these ad hoc Working Groups of Experts were convened by the Secretariat in 1999.
9. The Ad hoc Working Group of Experts in Food Safety reviewed food safety issues concerning food-borne parasites and other pathogenic diseases caused by consumption of fish. Serious infestation by trematodes and illness caused by microorganisms such as Vibrio bacteria were identified. A research proposal on fish-borne trematode infection was formulated for possible support by EU. However, due to the lack of expertise in this area, APFIC would cooperate with FAO and WHO in the future.
10. The Ad hoc Working Group of Experts in Capture Fishery Data Collection reviewed and supported the new Guidelines for the Routine Collection of Capture Fishery Data, prepared by FAO in cooperation with APFIC. The ad hoc Working Group suggested that such guidelines should be employed by the Members in a particular fishery and reported as case studies to APFIC. In addition, the ad hoc Working Group recommended that APFIC should actively promote awareness at the highest national levels of the necessity to continuously review data needs and to provide adequate means for collecting reliable data which are essential for fisheries management.
11. The Ad hoc Working Group of Experts in Rural Aquaculture discussed the current issues and agreed that rural aquaculture could contribute to the improvement of livelihoods of the rural poor and to food security in rural areas. It was recognized that there was a need for specific targeting of poor households coupled with participatory adaptive research and extension methods, to provide a sound basis for rural small-scale aquaculture development. The ad hoc Working Group recommended that efforts should be made to increase the awareness of policy-makers and planners of the potential for small-scale aquaculture in poverty alleviation, especially through integrated aquaculture systems.
12. The Technical Secretary of the APFIC Aquaculture and Inland Fisheries Committee (AIFIC) presented the follow up actions to the recommendations of the ad hoc Working Group. He informed of the NACA/DFID/FAO partnership - the STREAM (Support to Regional Aquatic Resource Management) initiative - with the objective of increasing awareness of strategies for aquaculture and aquatic resources management for poverty alleviation. STREAM’s additional goal is for better coordination of information exchange and communication networks for aquatic resources management within the region.
13. The reports of these ad hoc Working Groups were submitted and endorsed by the Executive Committee at its Sixty-eighth Session. The Executive Committee further directed that these reports be submitted to the Commission for consideration concerning the proposed Ad hoc Working Group of Experts in Integrated Aquaculture Systems and the improvement of fishery data collection.
14. The Commission recognized that there are significant difficulties regarding data and information collection for inland fisheries. In addition, the Commission also suggested that more effort needs to be focused on the management of inland fisheries.
15. The Commission was informed that inland fisheries information collection and management requires more participatory approaches to these issues. Current initiatives supported by FAO in addressing these issues include the STREAM initiative, FAO/MRC meeting on data collection in inland fisheries and the FAO/MRC Large Rivers Symposium.
