The proposed regional information system, SIPAL, originated mainly from four factors:
the strong demand for corporate information from the many scientists and administrators involved in planning and promoting aquaculture activities and evaluating projects at the national and regional levels,
an urgent need of private and public investors, producers and suppliers for regional and international information, specifically (or especially) for this sector, in order to promote the import/export of aquaculture products and equipment. Training possibilities, prices, national and international rules and standards, legislation, information on technical aspects such as feeding and pathology, etc…, are also part of the above needs,
the conviction that both public and private institutions possess an enormous quantity of data/information useful to administrators in the sector which, for various reasons, remain unused or only partially used because they are not compiled, processed or disseminated. This makes it difficult and often impossible to integrate and/or associate these data/information with other information of different nature and source, and,
the constant requests from the public and private sectors for software to formulate and analyze research and investment projects. This system will contain the instruments appropriate to this need using the data bank component as the comparative source of information and data.
The outcome will produce a continuous flow of information which could be used for evaluating, measuring, maintaining and controlling events and performance in aquaculture.
The current widespread availability of reasonably low-priced computers and microcomputers of great capacity makes possible a project for incorporating a large amount of such multidisciplinary information into a Desk Information System at reasonable cost.
It is worth mentioning that a similar experience is under way in the Mediterranean Region with the development of a twin system called SIPAM (Information System for the Promotion of Aquaculture activities in the Mediterranean) under the activities of MEDRAP II Project (FAO/UNDP/RAB/ 89/00512).
