The Tripartite Review Meeting confirmed the importance of the development of aquaculture for the Mediterranean Region, and the promising prospects for further development. It was also encouraged by the efforts made by countries with respect to aquaculture development and the supporting role of UNDP/FAO-supporting Mediterranean Regional Aquaculture Project (MEDRAP), in these activities.
The Governments confirmed their intentions to continue and strengthen their joint activities within the institutional framework of MEDRAP. This decision was based on the identified priority needs to:
- increase regional production of fish and shellfish through culture and culture-based fisheries to meet quantifiable national needs for domestic consumption and export;
- strengthen, monitor and protect regional and national resources so that cultured production is a stable and reliable sector contributing to the national economy of each Mediterranean country.
It was stated that the priority objectives and orientations of the MEDRAP programme for the next few years should include:
- completion of the development of pilot production schemes and dissemination of the technical and economic information and the experience acquired by these schemes to other prospective producers and other interested parties;
- assessment and analysis of the marketing and economic parameters of aquaculture production with a view to guiding investment in the aquaculture sector;
- increasing regional and national aquaculture technical and managerial competence;
- developing national strategies and programmes based on economic and technical evaluations of sites suitable for aquaculture production;
- establishment of a system for the evaluation and monitoring of environmental factors to facilitate aquaculture development, while simultaneously preserving the environment;
- setting up an appropriate information, collection and dissemination system, both within the MEDRAP network and the individual countries;
- examining the mechanisms for establishing MEDRAP as a permanently structured intergovernmental body.
Many specific activities were envisaged to achieve the priority objectives, including:
- promotion of aquaculture development regionally through studies on marketing, processing and economic analysis, for example;
- implementation of production technology by on-farm demonstrations, pilot production schemes, links to national projects, for example;
- publication of regional information (statements of policy, regional and national plans, task forces, and guideline publications, for example);
- exchange of information (collection and dissemination of data, workshops, conferences, study tours and visits, long-term and short-term training courses, and general TCDC activities, for example).
For the attainment of these objectives the participating countries undertook to further develop regional cooperation for Mediterranean aquaculture development, and to mobilize national resources to the extent possible for MEDRAP projects, including making national facilities available in support of regional activities.
The meeting recognized the clear need for continued external cooperation and assistance to supplement Governments own resources for aquaculture development. To meet this need the participating countries strongly requested assistance from appropriate bilateral and multilateral sources, particularly from UNDP, FAO and non-IPF countries in the region.
