The Central Asian and Caucasus Regional Fisheries and Aquaculture Commission (CACFish), a body established in 2011 under the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), convened in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on 10 -12 October for its 5^th session. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources of Uzbekistan, Botirjon Sulaymonov, who opened the session, said that aquaculture and inland fisheries production in Uzbekistan had grown rapidly in recent years to 60 000 tonnes in 2015. He thanked the FAO and CACfish for having organized many training sessions over the last 10 years that have built substantial capacity to improve the sectors’ performance. The deputy Minister also informed the Commission about the steps being taken by Uzbekistan to become member of the CACFish.

The Commission, having adopted 11 recommendations, guidelines and better management practices for inland fisheries and aquaculture in its first four sessions (2011-2015), monitored the progress made with implementation of these decisions in the region.

The 5^th session recognized that the “Guidelines for Sturgeon Hatchery Practices and Hatchery Management for Release” were considered extremely relevant by all countries in the region and are widely implemented. The guidelines for “Responsible introductions and transfers of fish in Central Asia and the Caucasus” and the “Guidelines on the application of the environmental impact assessment procedure in aquaculture in the Central Asia and Caucasus region”, were also regarded highly relevant and their national level implementation is making good progress. Other recommendations made at the 3^rd and 4^th sessions of CACFish in 2014 and 2015 were regarded relevant to most member countries, but more time is required to see the effects of implementation of these recommendations on the fisheries and aquaculture sector. 

FAO’s ad interim Secretary to the Commission, Dr. Raymon van Anrooy, said that the countries in the region have made tremendous steps with implementation of the CACFish guidelines and better management practices. Improvements in fish production, fisheries employment and contributions to rural livelihoods provide the evidence that CACFish’ work is bearing fruits and is boosting the sustainable development of aquaculture and inland fisheries in the member states.  

The Commission has improved its budget situation in 2016 and decided to allocate more funds to implementation its 2^nd Regional Work Programme (2016-2020). Priorities for 2017 and 2018 include, among others: habitat rehabilitation for inland fisheries, methodologies for inland fisheries stocks assessments, development of best practices for cage aquaculture in reservoirs and lakes, capacity building of small-scale fishers, and training for the establishment of national fisheries and aquaculture data and information management systems.

The Commission established an Expert Working Group on Small-Scale Fisheries and an ad hoc Working group on Administrative and Financial matters. The latter group will assist the CACFish Secretariat in informing other countries of the costs and benefits of membership of CACFish.

The Commission also endorsed the Capacity Building for Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture Management in Central Asia (FishCap) project, which will be supported by the Turkish Government under the second phase of the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programme (FTPP).

CACFish is a regional fishery management organization with currently five member countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkey. The Commission members have an interest to cooperate in responsible inland fisheries and aquaculture management and development in the Central Asian and Caucasus region.  The 5^th session was kindly hosted by the Government of Uzbekistan. Countries participating in the 5^th session included: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The Chairperson of CACFish is Dr. Rauf Hadjiev (Azerbaijan), who is assisted by Dr. Mustafa Altug Atalay (Turkey) and Svetlana Balkhova (Tajikistan) as vice Chairpersons.