FINAL REPORT

Introduction

The Mediterranean Regional Aquaculture Project (MEDRAP) convened a workshop on Quality Control, Processing and Marketing of Aquaculture Products, in Sfax (Tunisia), from 22 to 25 April 1992. Representatives from both private and public sectors from nine MEDRAP countries (Portugal, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Cyprus, Croatia, Lebanon, Turkey) attended the workshop and acitively participated in all its sessions, animated by eight expert invited from associated and non associated countries (France, Scotland, Hungary, Belgium).

On behalf of Mr. Hassan AKROUT, the MEDRAP Project Coordinator, unable to attend the workshop due to health reasons, Mr. BELKHIR Mohiedine, expert and the representative of MEDRAP welcomed all the participants and wished them good stay in Tunisia and full success of the workshop that was just opened before by Mr. Bechir TRITAR, the Tunisian National Coordinator.

Private aquaculture operators being the main users of research results of this workshop, MEDRAP offered them for the first time a good opportunity to join the meeting and exchange information with researchers and enrich the discussion with their experiments in the field.

The workshop agenda was briefly introduced to the participants. It is mainly constituted of three sessions dealing with Quality Control, Processing and Marketing of aquaculture products, and a round table on present status on Quality Control, Processing and Marketing of Aquacole Production within the MEDRAP member countries.

The programme also included a study tour on the way back Sfax-Tunis, that permitted to visiting several processing and aquaculture units (clam hatchery, processing units of blue fish belonging to both private and public sectors, and private fish farming).

The participants fully adopted the agenda and proceeded to the following Officials for the Worshop:

Main report

The importance of Quality Control, Processing and Marketing in increasing the aquaculture production and improving the development of the aquaculture sector was generally recognized at both, national and Mediterranean level. The economic viability of aquaculture is considered closely dependent to that subject and should lead to conceive a new regional aquaculture strategy considering that related codes and norms should be identified and standardized. Furthermore, several aspects related to the matter and linked to the technical and economic viability of aquaculture under local sub-regional and regional conditions were carefully discussed through the different and interesting lectures and conferences. Hereby we considered very useful to report the main remarks and suggestions which were formulated during the general discussions on the prospects and problems of aquaculturr, highlighting several needs and major constraints.

Participating MEDRAP countries recognized the necessity to improve handling and quality control of aquaculture products and should take early action to identify and standardize their code and normes as they are differing when existing from one country to another. Quality identification labels should be enhanced to promote aquaculture products as opposed to the fished products. In the framework of a common strategy at regional, sub-regional or even national level, there is an urgent need to establish a data bank of codes and normes when existing. This will help insuring better demand promotion for farmed products and on the other hand, saving the consumer from contaminating risks that could be provided from either the fresh or the manufactured products.

Specialized institutions, concerned by quality control were asked to keep in touch with each other at regional or national level and get together to coordinate their activities and interventions on the matter.

Despite the increasing demand with its complexity in developping the aquaculture products and the difficulties met in their processing as this later is differing from one species to another, the participants discussed the need to report and define the several kinds of aquaculture products that could be elaborated. The participants recognized that this could be done through a consultancy on the subject.

The questions of how to secure promotion of the traditional aquaculture products together with the new processed ones was largely discussed. Attention was given to the feasibility of promoting the sector as it requires investigations and farmers should be more sensitive to the aquaculture production prices as supply increases accordingly; that will lead to planning strategy in production and marketing which needs obviously two kinds of cooperations; one between associations of farmers and producers themselves and the other one between European and Arab governments.

Regarding the marketing of aquaculture products, the idea of establishing several grower associations or marketing board was strongly recognized to improve market conditions and also to insure stable prices and availability of products. Also special consideration of aspects related to the quality control and processing should be carefully examined as to which marketing is strongly depending and developping programme for aquaculture at Mediterranean scale should aim equally to the domestic market and the export.

Furthermore, all participants considered that the Mediterranean market is becoming smaller to aquaculture products. Growers of Farmers should diversify both the production by introducing new species and new products and also the markets by searching new ones to be developped. However, the introduction of new species and new products is not without constraints as technological and biological conditions are differing according to species, each one having its own technology, biology and rearing technics. Discussion on such marketing aspects and the important role that could be played in the natural exploitation of aquaculture products highlighted the necessity that MEDRAP countries should work in elaborating an adequate marketing strategy involving a real coordination, a planification and more efficiency aiming at insuring a permanent marketing development and obviously, by the same way, a production of aquaculture at national, regional and sub-regional levels.

Regional training institutions as well as national and international ones were strongly invited by the participants to help in the matter by training specialized staff, developping new technics and encouraging research in specific themes related to quality control, processing and marketing investigations.

Lastly, the participants recognized the need of creating a data bank systems which should be specific to the Mediterranean region and involving marketable aquaculture products with prices analysis; the institution of such system should aim particularly to the monitoring, the research-development and its impact on production costs in processing and marketing.

Recommendations

1 Farming organization

There is a need to encourage the formation of fish farmers' associations in each member country. Such association in each MEDRAP country should normally cooperate in the formation of federation of fish farmers associations.

2 Marketing

2.1 Role of Marketing
The development of aquaculture in MEDRAP member countries should move away from its past product-led development to a futur which focuses upon anticipation, identificationand responding to changes in the market.

2.2 Marketing Information Systems
Greater efforts should be made to establish marketing information systems for MEDRAP member states. Mechanisms should be established to encourage and promote the collection, analysis and exchange of information, through networking, about markets of interest to MEDRAP member countries.

3 Quality Control

3.1 A compendium of directories of international product specifications should be compiled, and made available to MEDRAP member countries.

3.2 MEDRAP member countries should identify and understand the relevant product specifications for each of the potential target markets.

3.3 MEDRAP member countries who wish to supply such target markets should ensure that they are capable of satisfying any relevant standards applicable.

4 Processing

The processing needs of the aquaculture production industry in MEDRAP member states should be appraised. In particular the opportunities for product diversification based upon existing products and species, and new products and species, should be identified and evaluated so that changing market demands can be targeted and satisfied.

5 Training

The training needs of the aquaculture industry in each MEDRAP member country should be investigated in each of its functional areas, including marketing, quality control, processing and handling, inter alia. Training programs should be planned an initiated to remedy any deficiencies identified.

6 Research

MEDRAP member countries should be encouraged to establish further research programs in marketing, quality control, processing and handling. Exchange and communication of the results of each of these research programs should be encouraged.