BACKGROUND AND SCOPE

Freshwater fish production through aquaculture continues to dominate farmed finfish production in many Asian countries. With increasing demand for food fish from freshwater aquaculture, and growing competition for resources, such as water, land, feeds and manure, there is a trend towards intensification of aquaculture production in freshwater aquaculture systems. Intensification of aquaculture production can help increase production to meet growing demand for fish. Farmed freshwater fish in many cases is and will be an essential source of animal protein for consumers in both rural and urban areas. Opportunities and constraints of intensification of freshwater aquaculture systems need to be explored, with a view to providing appropriate technical guidance for sustainable intensification of food production using such systems.

During efforts to assist sustainable intensification of food production through aquaculture, consideration must be given to understanding of the role of aquatic resources (aquaculture and inland fisheries) in the livelihoods of the users of water resources. While adequate evaluation of the impact of the activity on other water users need to be considered, communities should be developed to effectively and equitably manage the process (fishing, income, agreement on ownership, access). Development of technical criteria for management (inputs, stocking, feeding, water management, allowable fishing methods etc.) is considered equally important.

For the purpose of this Expert Consultation, intensification of food production through aquaculture is not considered in the narrow context of increase production of fish from a unit area of water. Intensification essentially means an increase in the output of a system per unit input. This therefore relates to all of the resources that constitute a production or farming system. As such, quantitative measurements for intensification would include productivity (kg ha^-1) of a water body, efficiency of water use (kg fish m^-3 of water used), fish catch per unit effort (CPUE), invested and economic indicators (profit margin, cost of production, income/profit per unit of water used ($/m^-3). More qualitative indicators relate to socio-economic criteria such as number of households sustained, diversity of livelihoods strategies and reduced vulnerability.

The FAO Fisheries Department promotes analyses and consultations on the Sustainable Intensification of Food Production through Aquaculture within Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries. As part of this initiative, an Expert Consultation was held on 16-19 October 2001, in Bhubaneswar, India, to review the technical aspects of Sustainable Intensification of Food Production through Aquaculture in the countries of South Asia. The Expert Consultation, which mainly discussed freshwater aquaculture production in countries of South Asia, will benefit planners and policy makers, technical specialists and primary producers of this Asian region as well other regions. The Expert Consultation focused on major issues related to intensification, particularly on (i) water use and environment, (ii) nutrition and feeding, (iii) diseases and health management, and (iv) seed resources. The FAO, the Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA, Bhubaneswar, India) and the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), carried out this activity as a cooperative effort.

The overall goal of the Expert Consultation was to facilitate the preparation of Draft Technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Nutrition and Environmental Health Management for the Sustainable Intensification of Food Production through Aquaculture in Low Income Food deficit Countries (LIFDCs) in South Asia. The Expert Consultation helped in consolidating the information, experiences, ideas and findings related to intensification of freshwater aquaculture systems with focus on nutrition, disease and health management and environmental management. The Expert Consultation brought participation and contributions of major stakeholders, including producers, national aquaculture experts and government planners and policy makers.

Venue, Dates and Participation

The Expert Consultation was held from 16-19 October 2001 at Mayfair Lagoon Hotel, Bhubaneswar, India and was attended by 26 participants. The work programme for the consultation and list of participants are given in Appendixes A and B.

Consultation Agenda, Procedure and Conduct

Following the opening ceremony, involving welcoming remarks from the FAO (Dr R. Subasinghe), the NACA Coordinator (Mr P. Bueno) and the Deputy-Director General (Fisheries) of ICAR (Dr K. Gopakumar), the introduction and objectives of the Expert Consultation were presented.

There followed presentations of country papers by Bangladesh^[1], Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, each followed by discussions.

After completion of the presentation and review of country papers, Dr Y. Ayyapan presented the Synthesis Paper prepared by CIFA. The full synthesis paper is given as Appendix C. Presentations were also made on major issues (i.e. nutrition and feeding, diseases and health management, and water use and environment) related to intensification of freshwater aquaculture.

The FAO also introduced experiences from a recent FAO workshop in China that developed Technical Guidelines for Aquaculture Intensification in China.

Following these various presentations, and discussions, the participants spilt into Working Groups to discuss the major issues concerning intensification. The terms of reference for the Working Groups are provided in Appendix D. The reports from the working groups are given below.