The purpose of the Regional Consultation was to inform donors of the role, needs and potential of aquaculture development and living aquatic resources management in the Asia-Pacific region. One of the most significant changes within the sub-sector in the last decade has been a shift in emphasis away from technology to increase production towards rural development. There has now been a wide range of initiatives to address the needs of poor people and contribute to improved livelihoods through small-scale aquaculture and aquatic resource management. (In this report, aquatic resource management includes all forms of interaction with fisheries and aquaculture.) Furthermore, there is a strong desire to share these experiences thereby addressing the limited support for dissemination and the lack of networks for sharing resources and knowledge. These issues have been comprehensively identified in the outputs of the following global and regional meetings:
The Bangkok Declaration and Strategy for Aquaculture Development Beyond 2000, adopted during the NACA/FAO Conference on Aquaculture in the Third Millennium, 20 - 25 February 2000, in Bangkok, Thailand;
The third Five-Year Work Programme of NACA which aims to set the stage for aquaculture in the region for the next 20 years and beyond;
The Resolution on ASEAN Fisheries and Food Security and the Plan of Action on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security in the ASEAN Region, adopted by the Ministers of the ASEAN-SEAFDEC member countries responsible for fisheries during the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Conference on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security in the New Millennium: "Fish for the People" held in Bangkok, Thailand, 19-24 November 2001;
The outcome of the First Session of the COFI Sub-Committee on Aquaculture, Beijing, PRC, 18 -22 April 2002; and
The outcome of the "The Fish for All Summit" held in Penang, Malaysia, on 3 November 2002, coordinated by WorldFish Center.
The lack of sensitization of policy-makers to the role and opportunities of aquatic resource management and aquaculture is not necessarily a result of inadequate information but rather inadequate channelling of the information to the right decision-makers, in a form that is useful to them. There are currently few opportunities for dialogue and mutual learning and sometimes poorly coordinated efforts to inform policy-makers of the important role of aquaculture and aquatic resource management. As a result, awareness among policy-makers is low and this is reflected in the lack of donor intervention in the sub-sector. Therefore, a Regional Donor Consultation on the Role of aquaculture and living aquatic resources: priorities for support and networking was convened to discuss with donors the role that aquaculture and aquatic resources management play in rural and coastal livelihoods and the regional development requirements for this sub-sector.
The Consultation focused on the following issues:
1. Informing the donor representatives of the role of aquaculture and aquatic resources management in rural development, water management, environment, poverty alleviation, food security, livelihood, trade, gender and household nutrition.
2. Descriptions by the participating regional organizations of their current collaborative activities in the field of aquaculture and aquatic resource management.
3. Discussion with donors regarding the types of appropriate intervention needed in sustainable aquaculture development and mechanisms of their implementation.
Presentations by regional institutions
Each of the organizations promoting aquaculture and aquatic resources management presented an overview of its aims, perceived role in the development process and main activities. Four major themes emerged from these presentations.
1. Over the last few decades, aquaculture and inland fisheries (the freshwater capture fishery is one of the largest fisheries in most countries) have become increasingly important as a commercial sector and as a source of food supply. This is partly a function of population increase, increasing pressure on wild fisheries, increases in productivity in aquaculture technology and a growing body of knowledge on the social and economic value of the various fisheries.
2. Significantly, as a result of the work of the presenting institutions, the benefits of aquaculture and inland fisheries are now beginning to come to the attention of national policy-makers.
3. These institutions are now arguing for a shift in emphasis from technology and production to aquaculture and aquatic resources management as a platform to address issues related to rural development, poverty alleviation and sustainable livelihoods.
4. Whatever the focus of their work, regional institutions emphasized the importance of cross-sectoral interaction, regional cooperation, sharing of information and resources and the pressing need to more effectively communicate reliable scientific information to policy-makers and other stakeholders.
Presentations by donor agencies
Donor agencies outlined their guiding policies, main approaches and services. All the donors present at the consultation are supporting the fisheries sector in some manner, through initiatives such as knowledge dissemination, community-based coastal resources management or marine fisheries. Donors agreed that small-scale fisheries and aquaculture are valuable tools for poverty alleviation and rural development and are prepared to fund these activities provided that proposals can be shown to meet the donors' policy goals.
Discussion
Participants believed that marine fisheries are focused on issues related to coastal fisheries and are reasonably well covered through existing interventions, however, inland fisheries are rarely considered. There was a need, therefore, for policy frameworks at country level that nurture or facilitate sustainable management of aquatic resources. Linkages and channels for cooperation should involve the participation of any and all relevant Departments or Ministries.
A pressing need was identified for aquatic resource management and aquaculture to become part of the global discourse on poverty alleviation and to demonstrate that aquaculture and aquatic resources management plays a significant role. This was considered particularly important with respect to the development of Country Strategy Papers (CSPs) and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs). The lack of sensitization of policy-makers to the role and opportunities of aquatic resource management and aquaculture is not necessarily a result of inadequate information but rather inadequate channelling of the information to the right decision-makers, in a form that is useful to them. Sometimes lack of attention is because the issues relate to a group of politically weak people in contrast to the high-value, export-oriented forms of aquaculture, which enjoys excellent political and financial support.
The consultation concluded that a number of practical and immediate actions could be taken to make aquaculture and aquatic resources management a larger part of the discourse on rural development and poverty alleviation.
Senior government officials could be invited to the annual NACA Governing Council meeting. This was considered an opportunity for sharing information between donors and senior government officials.
The Asia Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) is a research-focused forum with reasonably broad participation covering Asia, however, the fishery sector is poorly represented at their meetings. It was asked if APAARI could be used as a vehicle for transmitting development priorities for research. It was noted that ADSEA of SEAFDEC is already a vehicle for this type of research consultation but requires funding support. ADSEA is currently focused on aquaculture but could be expanded to include inland fisheries.
The FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) and COFI Sub-committee on Aquaculture are channels that can be used to transmit regional priorities and issues; however, inland fisheries are not well represented, as they are not a high priority for the EU. It was agreed there are advantages in having joint positions and statements.
ASEAN as a regional organization can approach countries (e.g. Germany) for assistance and SEAFDEC as the fisheries advisory body [to ASEAN] would be the competent agency through which to channel support.
The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) covers some aspects related to aquaculture (e.g. trade, food safety, product quality). ESCAP could be approached by member countries and then channelled through the United Nations system.
"Establishing a presence for aquaculture" is an objective of STREAM (Support to Regional Aquatic Resource Management), an FAO Regional Office priority and also a priority for NACA and SEAFDEC. These issues must be on the agendas of the respective council meetings. At the national level, donors and regional institutions must learn to make more effective use of national and regional media in transmitting issues and results to wider non-technical audience.
The STREAM communications hubs are intended to promote advocacy, on behalf of and by the poor, of aquatic resources issues and there are opportunities to channel in national strategies. Inland fisheries are reflected in their policies.
Initiatives from regional institutions to support donor policy and action
Donors ability to support aquaculture and aquatic resource management are constrained by their own and national policies. It was also stated that donors often talk to national planners and staff at the various Ministries of Agriculture, which may not always be aware of the importance of the fisheries sector. To assist in correctly informing donors and national policy, regional institutions offered to analyse the range of sectoral strategy papers the various donors are using (trends on development support, inclusion of current issues) and develop a common overview strategy-document that would be provided to donors. This would include recommendations regarding adaptation and/or revision to current regional and national needs. Additionally, the regional institutions could assess project impact against selected poverty indicators; possibly in a manner of an overall review.
Donor agency initiatives
Donor agencies were highly supportive of the issues raised and the actions suggested to address them. They indicated the possibility of tangible support through routine channels. In addition, donor agencies indicated that as a result of the Consultation, more attention would be given to integrating these issues into country programme strategies. For example, when strategy papers are formulated there are always inputs from various national institutions, however competent regional institutions are not typically involved. A joint position from a consortium of SEAFDEC, NACA, WorldFish, MRC and FAO would be a powerful voice in advocating recommendations for the sector.
If decisions are made at country level, there are simple issues of perception by non-fisheries decision-makers that need to be addressed. The regional institutions should work toward changing negative perceptions. A review of some country strategy papers and offering advice and recommendations may be one way to accomplish this. There is a need for clear recommendations that can be transmitted to donors.
Follow-up
The meeting agreed that follow-up consultations between the regional institutions and donors would be fruitful if held at least once every two years.
A study tour was organized by SEAFDEC/AQD to enable participants to visit Iloilo to see examples of small-scale aquaculture development in the Philippines and further review a number of aquatic resource management issues.
