The objective of the Workshop was to develop national capacity and promote bilateral, sub-regional and/or regional coordination so that countries will be better placed to strengthen and harmonize port State measures and, as a result, implement the relevant International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IPOA-IUU) tools and the FAO Model Scheme and contribute to the development of a legally-binding instrument on port State measures.

The Session was attended by delegates from seven Members of the Commission and by observers from international, regional and national fishery bodies and institutions. The meeting was organized to evaluate the progress of intercessional activities relating to recommendations of earlier sessions, address regional fisheries and aquaculture issues of concern and review plans for short and medium-term activities.

The Committee appraised the activities of its subsidiary bodies and those of the regional projects supporting the Commission. It acknowledged the strengthening of the stock assessment process through joint assessment by experts. It favoured the use of the data from trawl survey and requested to pay special attention to the hake (Merluccius merluccius) in 2008. SAC reviewed fishery management proposals from its Sub-Committees.

The establishment of fishery statistics and information systems in many countries of the General Fishery Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) continues to be considered a high priority activity, and the need to monitor fishing activities and provide fishery management at all levels with accurate, reliable and timely data which can interact with stock assessment and economic and socioeconomic studies for decision making is constantly increasing.

This paper compiles the state of knowledge on fish safety and quality with the view to providing a succinct yet comprehensive resource book for risk and fish quality managers. It provides a detailed review of the hazards that cause public health concerns in fish and fish products. (Also available in English)

The African Water Resource Database (AWRD) is a set of data and custom-designed tools, combined in a geographic information system (GIS) analytical framework aimed at facilitating responsible inland aquatic resource management with a specific focus on inland fisheries and aquaculture. It thus provides a valuable instrument to promote food security. The AWRD data archive includes an extensive collection of datasets covering the African continent, including: surface waterbodies, watersheds, aquatic species, rivers, political boundaries, population density, soils, satellite imagery and many other physiographic and climatological data.

The African Water Resource Database (AWRD) is a set of data and custom-designed tools, combined in a geographic information system (GIS) analytical framework aimed at facilitating responsible inland aquatic resource management with a specific focus on inland fisheries and aquaculture. It thus provides a valuable instrument to promote food security. The AWRD data archive includes an extensive collection of datasets covering the African continent, including: surface waterbodies, watersheds, aquatic species, rivers, political boundaries, population density, soils, satellite imagery and many other physiographic and climatological data.

La gestión del riesgo está adquiriendo mayor importancia en el sector de la acuicultura, lo que se refleja en el desarrollo e implementación de Mejores Prácticas de Manejo, Códigos de Conducta y Códigos de Buena Práctica, Procedimientos Estándar de Operaciones, certificación y trazabilidad. El seguro acuícola es una de las herramientas utilizada en la gestión del riesgo en acuicultura. Esta publicación presenta una descripción general del estado actual de seguros acuícolas en el mundo.

These technical guidelines have been developed to support sections of FAO's Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries addressing responsible fisheries management (Article 7), aquaculture development (Article 9), international trade (Article 11) and fisheries research (Article 12). The objective of these guidelines is to assist countries in reducing the risk of introduction and spread of serious transboundary aquatic animal diseases.

Four of the most important resources to aquaculture, outside human and technological resources, are land, water, seed and feed. Efficient use of these resources are necessary to guarantee optimum production from aquaculture. A project Study and Analysis of Seed Production in Small-scale Rural Aquaculture was implemented through a desk study and expert workshop (held in Wuxi, China from 23-26 March 2006) to assess the status of freshwater fish seed resources and supply and its contribution to sustainable aquatic production.

This document contains nine papers on cage aquaculture including a global overview, one country review for China, and seven regional reviews for Asia (excluding China), northern Europe, the Mediterranean, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America and Oceania, all of which were presented during the FAO Special Session on Cage Aquaculture - Regional Reviews and Global Overview at the Asian Fisheries Society Second International Symposium on Cage Aquaculture in Asia (CAA2), held in Hangzhou, China, from 3 to 8 July 2006.

El Plan Internacional para la Ordenación de la Capacidad Pesquera fue adoptado por el Comité de Pesca de la FAO en febrero de 1999. La FAO ha desempeñado una función importante en el proceso de adopción del plan a través de la preparación de pautas y recomendaciones técnicas. Destacados científicos de América Latina y el Caribe han realizado una serie de estudios que constituyen un primer paso hacia la mejor comprensión de los problemas de capacidad y sobrecapacidad en las pesquerías de la región.

La Commission a notamment adopté trois résolutions, dont deux relatives au cadre statistique de la CGPM (sur la collecte de données relatives à l'effort de pêche et aux unités opérationnelles, et sur les sous-régions géographiques), et une visant a promouvoir l'utilisation de la maille carrée de 40 mm dans le cul des chaluts. La Commission a également adopté diverses recommandations, et décidé de renforcer ses activités en mer noire.

This publication provides orientation, basic considerations and general principles for those institutions and organizations that provide credit and microfinance services to the fisheries sector, particularly the small-scale fisheries sector, and for those who want to include inland fishers and inland capture fisheries as part of their client base and lending operations. The document has three parts.

This checklist summarizes information on the parasites of Latvia fishes contained in the world literature dating to the end of 2005. Information is presented in the form of parasite-host and host-parasite lists and includes 305 named species of parasites. Also included are many records of parasites not identified to species level. The Parasite-Host List is organized on a taxonomic basis and provides information for each parasite species on the environment (freshwater, brackish, marine), the location (site of infection) in or on its host(s), the species of host(s) infected, the known geographic distribution (by major waterbody) in Latvia, and the published sources for each host and locality record.

The global food production sector is growing and in many areas farming systems are intensifying. Although food production from all sectors has environmental impacts and environmental costs, public opinion and regulatory oversight amongst the sectors in this area is uneven. In order to understand better the place of aquaculture amidst the other food production sectors in regards to environmental costs, the first session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries' Sub-Committee on Aquaculture recommended "undertaking comparative analyses on the environmental cost of aquatic food production in relation to other terrestrial food production sectors".

Fisheries policy in Bangladesh is still trying to get to grips with the major dilemmas of maximizing benefits from natural resources. During the 20th century Bangladesh adopted one-sided production-oriented policies in the agricultural sector to feed its rapidly growing population. This strategy included increasing fish production, then in decline mainly as a result of environmental degradation brought about by the expansion of agriculture.

Over the last few decades, natural and human-induced disasters have become more frequent and increasingly destructive. Populations depending on fisheries and aquaculture for their livelihoods have become more and more vulnerable and have been seriously affected by loss of life and property. This document gives an overview of FAO's work with regard to such disasters in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, together with the lessons learned and experience gained on how to improve disaster response, preparedness and prevention in these sectors.

This technical paper provides an analysis of the economic implications of, and the reasons for, adopting various feeding practices for different fish species and aquaculture systems in Asia. It comprises case studies in six Asian countries (Bangladesh, China, India, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam) and an overall synthesis ending with conclusions and recommendations. The systems studied include extensive/traditional, semi-intensive and intensive farms for a number of different species including sutchi and pangasiid catfishes (Bangladesh and Viet Nam), hybrid catfish (Thailand), carp polyculture (India and China), prawn and milkfish polyculture (the Philippines).

La acuicultura se está desarrollando, expandiendo e intensificando en casi todas las regiones del mundo. Si bien el sector parece ser capaz de cubrir la brecha entre las futuras demanda y oferta de alimentos acuáticos, existen muchas limitaciones y desafíos para por lo menos mantener el nivel actual de consumo per cápita a nivel global. Este documento examina las tendencias pasadas en el desarrollo de la acuicultura y describe su actual estado mundial.