The FAO Fisheries (Aquaculture) Mission is the second FAO Professional Study Group to visit China.
The first Mission concentrated on agricultural productivity and study of the people's communes. It travelled through China between 8 September and 7 October 1975.
These two study missions constitute part of a “package” of three mutually agreed upon by the Chinese Government and FAO in 19751. The original invitation that made these missions possible was extended by the Ministry of Agriculture, through the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Far East, at the 12th FAO Regional Conference in Tokyo in 1974.
Late April and May is the season for artificial fish propagation in China. The Ministry therefore suggested that the Aquaculture Mission be in China between 21 April and 12 May 1976. This was agreed.
The Mission assembled in Bangkok on 19 April. The members were: Mr. D.D. Tapiador (Team Leader), Dr. H.F. Henderson (Lake and Reservoir Fisheries), Mrs. M.N. Delmendo (Aquaculture) and Mr. H. Tsutsui (Land and Water Management). They entered China on 21 April.
The Mission's itinerary and a list of persons met while in China are given in Appendix I.
The Mission visited the provinces of Kwangtung, Hupei and Kiangsu as well as the municipalities of Peking and Shanghai. Notes were taken on the specific places, stations and communes visited, and on the briefings received by the Mission.
The report which follows is based mainly on these notes, supplemented where indicated by information drawn from available references.
