Mechanism of the Workshop and Format of the Report

Editorial note: In the abstracts of the technical presentations, the use of the term trash fish has been left as it was provided by the author to recognize the different uses of the term prior to the Workshop. In order to reflect the agreement to revise the term, all reports on the discussions of the presentations and the deliberations of the Workshop, the "agreed" term low value/trash fish has been used.

All the background papers that were submitted for the Workshop are available on the APFIC Website (http://www.apfic.org/modules/xfsection/article.php?articleid=1).

The Workshop was composed of technical presentations and working group discussions.^[1] The technical presentations covered the issues and findings of a range of related studies that have been conducted in the region as well as an analysis of trends in some selected fisheries. The Working Group sessions aimed at elaborating responses to a number of key issues:

i. The current trends and status of trash fish (particularly the drivers of the trash fisheries and the potential/observed impact/distribution of benefits).

ii. Implications for aquaculture (future availability of resource; diversification of feeds; competition with livestock industry).

iii. Clearer indication of what can be changed (through development, research & management) and those issues that are more likely to follow market forces etc.

iv. Strategies to address the identified issues and design a "Plan of Action" to implement the strategies, at national, subregional and regional levels.

The Working Groups were tasked with answering a number of key questions. In the first instance, two groups were asked identical questions relating to fishery issues while the other two groups were asked identical questions relating to aquaculture issues. The results of the two fishery groups and the two aquaculture groups were combined and presented to the plenary. These reports were then summarized and used to develop the Workshop conclusions and actions. The conclusions and actions are reported at the beginning of this report, followed by the presentations and discussions and, finally, the combined findings of the Working Groups.