A rational approach to fisheries development demands the efficient management of all resources and in particular investment capital. This investment process is concerned with implementing fisheries policy through a programme of projects that can be identified and also follow a cycle through to implementation and beyond. A universally accepted definition of a project is difficult but it is important to cover the wider range of activities and ensure that projects can be aggregated into national fisheries plans. A project could include surveys, civil works, fishing boats, plant, equipment but also institutional development, training, pricing policy, subsidies, and cost recovery. It is convenient to consider a project in several distinct stages commonly referred to as the project cycle and generally includes identification, preparation, appraisal, implementation and evaluation. The distinction between some of the stages can be difficult but the process is iterative and at each stage the same issues are considered repeatedly throughout the project cycle with varying degrees of intensity.
This report is concerned with the first phase of the cycle; identification of fishery project ideas that represent a high priority use of resources and also meet a test of feasibility with some assurance of technical, financial and economic solutions. Projects originate from a multiplicity of sources and in fisheries ideas must emanate from the pursuit of national objectives and, at the same time, there must be a grass roots desire to adopt and implement the project. The projects described in this report have several common strands:
they are all concerned with re-habilitation, i.e., marginal improvements in existing fisheries rather than new investment projects;
they arise from the pursuit of national objectives with respect to food production;
they are influenced by the waste or underutilization of the fishery resource;
they result from the constraints in the development process created by a shortage of facilities in the marketing chain for adequate fish processing and storage;
in some cases they complement initiatives taken by entrepreneurs to exploit the fisheries.
However, in all cases, these projects are related to the programming activities of bilateral and multilateral agencies and their ongoing projects in the respective countries.
The Fisheries Division of FAO has carried out, with the financial assistance of the Danish International Development Authority (DANIDA), an extensive programme of work to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the utilization of small pelagic species for human consumption. The success of this programme has resulted in technological improvements in the handling, holding, distribution and marketing of these species. The motivation for progression of this programme will be enhanced if these technoligical improvements can be incorporated into a set of projects that can make a positive contribution to the economic development of the countries concerned.
The next stage of this work is therefore to prepare the projects to a point where they have passed the identification “test” and be ready for detailed preparation.
The objective of the FAO/DANIDA programme has been defined: “To develop and introduce methods capable of handling large volumes of small pelagic fish as suitable material for the production of low cost products to benefit needy populations in developing countries”. The preparation of pre-feasibility or pre-investment studies will assist further in identifying the financial and economic benefits and constraints that relate to the overall objectives and they will give an indication of funding required and the return on investment. The objective of the present study is to prepare such studies for selected fisheries in four countries:
the Bali Strait fishery of Indonesia;
the Karnataka State fishery of India;
the Gulf of Thailand fishery;
the Morocco sardine fishery.
The data for the investment profiles have been obtained from several sources:
observations, information, data and reports obtained from visits to the relevant fisheries of Indonesia, India, Thailand and Morocco;
a project visit to Rome to research the reports, information and data available in the Fisheries Division and the Investment Centre;
documents, reports, data and information from some of the major institutions of the countries concerned, and also FAO and FAO/DANIDA projects.
This project contains recommendations for consideration by aid and financial institutions relating to the fisheries development projects for each of the countries concerned. The recommendations cover feasibility, finance and the potential for further development projects. They also, either support the passage of these projects through the implementation stage or, assist in reducing areas of excessive risk.
