34. The Committee understood the difficulty of categorization of Fisheries Department programmes and activities within the research domain, noting that research was not the Fisheries Department's primary mission. It recognized, however, that research in the context of the Fisheries Department's work included significant levels of global analysis, synthesis, review, compilation and presentation of information, and the contracting and management of research, while also participating in and contributing to new directions such as sustainability and fishery performance indicators.
35. The Committee also recognized that, notwithstanding the efforts of the Fisheries Department, all the research priorities identified by the Committee could not be undertaken by FAO. It agreed that ways were needed to disseminate these research priorities to the international research community, including the use of the Community Directory Server project of SIFAR. It recommended that SIFAR widely communicate the identified research issues.
36. The Committee appreciated the efforts of the Fisheries Department to report on research-related activities through document ACFR/99/5 Part I, The Framework and Process of Fisheries Research (Appendix H) and document ACFR/99/5 Part II, Research-related Activities (Appendix I) which it summarized and commented on as follows:
A) The Framework and Process of Fishery Research
37. The Secretariat highlighted the work undertaken by the FAO core staff as well as consultants and other short-term staff.
38. The Committee congratulated the Secretariat on the clarity and informative nature of the presentation and document and noted that the introduction of project-based structure and output to the Programme of Work from 2000 onward as a result of the Strategic Framework 2000-2015 had introduced a new prioritizing process but felt that this prioritization process resulting in a consensual agreement was apparently satisfactory.
39. The Committee remarked that it was not competent to advise on the effect, if any, of extra-budgetary resources on the activities of the Fisheries Department. The Committee suggested that it was important to evaluate whether such contributions facilitated the overall objectives of the Fisheries Department and/or that of the donor. It was suggested that a possible solution would be to aim at full project accounting for activities when extra-budgetary funding was involved.
40. The Committee emphasized the importance for FAO staff to continue to function as high-level professionals by participating in international meetings and to publish in peer-reviewed journals. The Committee also suggested that the Fisheries Department might wish to describe broadly its research work as "scientific activities".
B) Fishery Information
41. The Committee was presented with an overview of the work of the Fisheries Information, Data and Statistics Unit, including: (a) its lead role in the partnership programme and the continued development of the Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) series; (b) the Library and information services in support of fisheries research; (c) the global fisheries statistics for research purposes, and (d) the development of a Fisheries Global Information System (FIGIS). A presentation of the FIGIS prototype was made.
42. The Committee acknowledged the global participation in and value of ASFA and suggested that the Fisheries Department should monitor the usefulness of ASFA in the long term, in view of the developments with the Internet and modern communication technology. The Committee recognized the highly important role of the Fisheries Department Library, but was concerned at the low level of resources allocated to it.
43. The Committee acknowledged the emphasis by staff to create tools to compile information time series in support of a very wide range of analyses, including the preparation of SOFIA, resource reviews and to provide the public with access to the global fisheries database. It recommended that further priority should be given to socio-economic data, including information on aquaculture and small-scale fisheries (marine and freshwater). It encouraged the Fisheries Department to continue to develop and widely disseminate tools to assist less-developed countries in participating in statistical programmes.
C) Inland Fishery Resources and Aquaculture
44. The Committee welcomed and commended the presentation of the Aquatic Animal Pathogens and Quarantine Information Systems, which had been developed over the past five years, starting in Asia in partnership with the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia and Pacific Region (NACA) and with more than 20 participating countries. It was informed that the programme was extending its reach to Africa, Latin America and the Mediterranean in association with other international and national partners.
45. The Committee noted that this information had been developed primarily as a tool for assistance to aquaculturists for the avoidance of the transmission of pathogens which currently caused enormous financial losses. It noted that the information system also provided a real contribution to global fisheries research, and might be used as a methodology for other purposes such as an information system on harmful algal blooms (say in partnership with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)).
D) Fishing Technology
46. The Committee was presented with the main thrusts of research-related activities which were geared to improving technical and operational know-how of the industry on all aspects of fish capture technology, increasing food production and minimizing waste. The four main activities described were: (a) reduction of environmental impact from tropical shrimp trawl fisheries; (b) monitoring of economic viability and techno-economic efficiency of modern capture fisheries; (c) analysis of global fleet trends, and (d) demographic change in coastal fishing communities and its implications for sustainable use of fishery resources (the latter was not presented).
47. The Committee considered that the study on the reduction of environmental impacts from tropical shrimp trawl fisheries was extremely important and looked forward to the results.
48. The Committee endorsed the study on economic viability and noted that in terms of future direction, indicators relative to marine and freshwater small-scale fisheries, as well as social and environmental indicators should be addressed. It further suggested that the economic costs of fisheries management and infrastructure should be given due consideration.
49. Responding to the presentation of the analysis of global fishing fleets, the Committee noted the value of the work.
50. The Committee pointed out that the Fisheries Department's work on the economics of fisheries and trends in fleet size and value was highly relevant to the issue of fishery subsidies. The results of these studies suggested that subsidies to the fishing fleets might need to be more carefully assessed.
51. The Committee acknowledged that the planned addition of the analysis methodology and information to the regular activities of the Fisheries Information, Data and Statistics Unit was a good idea. It recommended that these types of studies on fleet trends, including methodological studies, should be extended to smaller vessels, perhaps focusing on a limited sample of countries where better data were available.
E) Marine Fishery Resources
52. The Committee noted that the Marine Resources Service focused on three research themes; (a) resources identification and biodata; (b) resources and environmental monitoring, and (c) reporting and resources assessment and management.
53. The Committee acknowledged the importance and quality of the work and the great extent of the products. It also recognized that, while some of the work was highly visible such as through the contributions to SOFIA and resource reviews, other underlying work, particularly in species identification, also remained a very valuable foundation on such work and a fundamental contribution to global fisheries knowledge.
54. The Committee noted that information concerning the aquatic environment was not always readily available to the Fisheries Department, and recommended that efforts be made to connect to other organizations that could contribute to this understanding.
F) Fish Utilization
55. The Committee expressed great interest in the presentation of the studies conducted by the Fish Utilization and Marketing Service as this related to food safety, improved utilization and market research.
56. The Committee noted that a greater percentage of fish production was involved in international trade than for any other food commodity, particularly for less-developed countries. Therefore, the Fisheries Department's work on fish product standards and safety was of growing importance in assisting less-developed countries manage the new global trade regimes under the World Trade Organization. (See also Appendix J on priorities for research on the impacts of trade and benefit distribution.)
G) Development Planning
57. The Committee was informed that the Development Planning Service focused, in fact, on policy development and management planning through a range of programmes and projects. The Service's presentations included the processes being followed for the elaboration of the International Plan of Action for the Management of Fishing Capacity and related guidelines; and the study on the economic and social implications of the transition to responsible marine capture fisheries and on related investment needs (see paragraph 48).
58. On the management of fishing capacity, the Committee acknowledged the efforts so far made to move the issue into the international sphere and to address technical issues. It recognized that there were a number of difficulties including, among other things: definition of what were optimal capacity; the problem as it related to small-scale marine and inland fisheries; addressing technological advances; and the sensitive issue of fishing rights and allocations. The Committee recommended that a research agenda be developed to expand the work on the management of fishing capacity already begun to include all forms of rights-based and other fishery management systems. It also noted that the negative influence of fishery subsidies could be mitigated, at least to some degree, by rights-based management and called for further research on the nature, extent and effects of subsidies.
59. The Committee agreed that the use of fishing rights was fundamental for fisheries management and regretted that direct reference to this was not made in the International Plan of Action for the Management of Fishing Capacity.
60. The Committee noted the high value of the research on transition to responsible fisheries, and commented that this was an appropriate use of science in determining transition costs but that its implementation was the subject of political decision-making beyond the scope of the research.
H) Support Unit for International Fisheries and Aquatic Research (SIFAR)
61. The Committee learned that the objectives of the Unit were to promote more relevant research, more effective policy (including research participation and prioritisation) and more active communication. As part of this work SIFAR was creating an open knowledge market place for the fisheries and aquatic research community. Called the oneFISH Community Directory, this user-managed Internet portal would bring together under one virtual roof a broad cross-section of stakeholders interested in raising the profile of fisheries research and reinforcing its impact in responsible fisheries. It would renew development of the Fishery Project Information System (FIPIS).
62. The Committee was pleased with the progress of the project since its siting within FAO. It also looked forward, in particular, to the results of the research participation and prioritization process, recognizing that this would assist ACFR in fulfilling its mandate.
