Committee on Aquaculture (CAQ) - 8th session
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The eighth session of the Committee on Aquaculture (CAQ) of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) was held in Paris, France, from 13 to 15 March 2013. The session was attended by 17 Members of the Commission as well as observers from other international organizations. The agenda also included the fourteenth session of the Information System for the Promotion of Aquaculture in the Mediterranean (SIPAM), which was organized concomitantly. During this session, the Committee reviewed the intersessional activities and outcomes of its subsidiary bodies. Moreover, the Committee discussed in particular key issues regarding coastal lagoons in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and agreed on the elaboration of draft guidelines for their sustainable management. It also decided to pursue the development of a draft set of guidelines for the use of indicators to monitor the sustainable development of aquaculture in the GFCM area as well as to carry on activities and research on allocated zones for aquaculture (AZA). In light of the increasing role to be played by farmers’ organizations in the development process of sustainable aquaculture, a proposal to set up an aquaculture multi-stakeholder platform was tabled in order to increase knowledge capital and improve cooperation in the sector. This would be submitted to the thirty-seventh GFCM session. Furthermore, the Committee welcomed the initiative to undertake a regional review on the current status of aquaculture in the GFCM area with a view to providing timely information on the aquaculture sector in the region. Finally, the CAQ adopted its programme of work for 2013–2014.