4. The Session was opened by Mr Ichiro Nomura, Assistant Director-General, FAO Fisheries Department. In opening the Session, Mr Nomura stressed the important role the Committee had played and was expected to continue to play in providing FAO with guidance and advice on fisheries and aquaculture research. He congratulated the Members on their appointment, or reappointment, to the Committee and exhorted the Committee to identify research areas of particular importance in international fisheries for which the Fisheries Department should be concerned, including critical research gaps as well as emerging issues. Mr Nomura expressed the wish that, in its discussions, the Committee would pay particular attention to the situation of developing countries, due to the magnitude of the problems these countries are facing in the area of research, and their deficit in terms of an adequate machinery to undertake fisheries research and ensure the rational use of its results. The full text of the Opening Statement is attached in appendix D.
