FAO Fisheries Report No. 758

Report of the Fifth Session of the

ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES RESEARCH

Rome, 12-15 October 2004

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

FAO.
Report of the fifth session of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries Research. Rome, 12-15 October 2004.
FAO Fisheries Report. No. 758. Rome, FAO. 2004. 27p.

ABSTRACT

The Advisory Committee on Fisheries Research (ACFR) held its fifth session in Rome from 12 to 15 October 2004.

The Committee reviewed the FAO work programme in fisheries with a focus on aquaculture and inland fisheries as well as on fish utilization and trade. It examined the outcomes of its Working Parties on Small-scale Fisheries and on Human Capacity Development and elaborated a future work programme for 2005/2006.

As in the past, the Committee extended its deliberation to include the manner in which scientific research could contribute to the development of fisheries policies with particular emphasis on questions of resource management, food security and poverty reduction.

The Committee appreciated the extensive range of research activities undertaken by the Fisheries Department and its partners and stressed that these partnerships were essential and should be maintained. It recommended that the Fisheries Department examine issues related to species domestication in aquaculture and that FAO produce an authoritative and balanced review of the aquaculture sector, including commercial aquaculture and the role of aquaculture in poverty reduction.

The Committee strongly supported FAO's work in fish utilization and trade and recommended that the work be strengthened in a number of areas including certification and quality requirements, fish trade and resources management, trade-related measures to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, the promotion of South-South and regional trade, etc. The Committee was appreciative of the FAO-MFA (Norway) study on the impact of international trade on food security, its important conclusions and recommendations and suggested that the planning, organization and implementation process of the initiative be followed to advance the case study concept which the Committee requested the FAO Fisheries Department should consider to use in advancing work in a number of areas.

The Committee commended the work of its Working Parties on Small-scale Fisheries and on Human Capacity Development. While acknowledging the practical approach adopted in assessing the contribution of small-scale fisheries to rural livelihoods in developing countries and in elaborating a research agenda for small-scale fisheries, the Committee identified a number of critical gaps that needed to be addressed, preferably through case studies. The Committee suggested a few additions to the Strategic Framework on Human Capacity Development and recommended that the document be widely disseminated as the basis upon which work plans can be built. The Committee strongly advocated for the application of the Strategic Framework on Human Capacity Development in the context of the FAO Field Programme and urged the Department to present it at the next session of COFI in March 2005 to create greater awareness of the subject among FAO Members and the international community and encourage its use.

The Committee agreed on a future work programme and elaborated terms of reference on four key issues including trade in aquatic products, small-scale fisheries and aquaculture. The Committee encouraged a more active involvement of the Department in the follow-up process on the key fisheries issues of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD-2002). It suggested that the Department should purposefully inform the Committee on Fisheries at its next session on ongoing work to address the key targets of WSSD-2002.

The Committee expressed appreciation to Dr Jacques Diouf, Director-General of FAO, for personally welcoming and interacting with the members of the Committee. The members of the Committee were encouraged by the positive remarks made by the Director-General about the importance of the work of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries Research.