5. The SSF Assessment Workshop was attended by 43 participants representing various international and national agencies and academic institutions as well as private firms. Participants were invited on the basis of their extensive experience in small-scale fisheries either from a natural or social science background. A full list of participants is shown as Appendix B.
6. The Coordinator of the FAO FishCode Programme, Dr Eric Reynolds, called the Workshop to order and introduced agenda items for the first morning session. The full Workshop Agenda is shown as Appendix C.
7. Dr Stephen Hall, Director General of the WorldFish Center co-organizers of the Workshop, also offered welcoming remarks to participants.
8. Dr Serge Garcia, Director, Fishery Resources Division, Fisheries Department, FAO, Rome, then read a statement on behalf of Mr Ichiro Nomura, Assistant Director-General, FAO Fisheries Department. This statement is attached as Appendix D.
9. Dr Hall of the WorldFish Centernext delivered a keynote presentation entitled “ ‘The wicked problem’of managing small-scale fisheries in the developing world” in which he shared some thoughts on the broader question of SSF, explained the interests and initiatives of the Center with regard to SSF, and provided ideas about SSF assessment within the broader context in which SSF are situated.
10. A summary of Dr Hall’s presentation is shown as Appendix E.
11. Further keynote remarks on “The Small-Scale Fisheries Assessment Initiative” were then presented by Dr Garcia, who emphasized the need for a specific framework for the assessment of SSF and the perspective and needs of a multi-year project. Dr Garcia particularly underlined the need for extra-budgetary funding to support the project effort, as well as the need for in-kind support from collaborating institutions (expert time, available methodologies, assistance in testing, etc.). He noted in this connection the interest in collaboration with the WorldFish Center/FAO initiative that has been expressed by the Marine Aquarium Council (MAC), which is already involved in the development and implementation of assessment methods for SSF linked to the international marine aquarium trade.
12. A summary of Dr Garcia’s remarks is given in Appendix F.
13. The final presentation of the first morning session was given by Dr Daniela Kalikoski, FAO FishCode STF Project Consultant, who provided a summary of the draft Workshop Background Paper. The paper, entitled “Review of current approaches for assessment of small-scale fisheries,” offered a brief review of frameworks for research, development and management of small-scale fisheries within which various disciplines undertake assessments. These include:
the “global environmental change and human security” approach.
14. Dr Gertjan DeGraaf, Senior Projects Management Officer, FAO FishCode Programme, briefed participants on objectives and procedures for the Workshop, stressing that the Agenda was organized around consideration of three major themes - namely:
capacity building towards interdisciplinary assessment of small-scale fisheries in developing countries.
