by
V. Soesanto
On behalf of the South China Sea Fisheries Development and Coordinating Programme which is responsible for this FAO/UNDP Working Party on Small-Scale Shrimp/Prawn Hatchery, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Government of Indonesia through the Directorate General of Fisheries for hosting this meeting in Indonesia; to the Provincial Government of Central Java for its full support to render facilities in Semarang; to INFIDEP for facilitating secretarial assistance.
Allow me to give you some brief notes on the activities of the Programme.
The SCSP has functions and responsibilities with respect to fisheries development which covers both aquaculture and capture fisheries. Its main function is to cope with common opportunities and problems of the countries in the region. The general aim is to assist countries to promote the proper use of living aquatic resources through the development and management of the fisheries including culture operations. The SCSP has always been concerned with the assessment of fishery resources, improvement of collection and analysis of fisheries data as the basic requirement for rational utilization of the resources. Small-scale/rural fisheries development which is essential in the region dominated by small-scale fisheries/ aquaculture is given serious attention. Although these differ widely in scope from country to country involving wide ranging subjects such as community development, fishing technology, fish farming, etc., at the present moment several projects are now in operation or have been prepared. Another important activity of direct interest include fisheries training. The training activities give great emphasis on the introduction of specific subject matters that relate directly to the needs of particular communities. The SCSP seeks the utmost efforts to bring fisheries training to different community levels from the grassroot fishermen/fishfarmers to extension workers and researchers. To my belief through such training and also workshops proven ways and means for small-scale fishermen/fishfarmers to increase their productivity could be enhanced.
I purposely categorize this particular working party under the training component, since in my view positive idea and experiences will be exchanged. It is expected that during your elaborations useful individual knowledge could be gained that will provide input towards the work in your respective countries.
It will be recalled that the first ASEAN Meeting of Experts on Aquaculture was held here in Semarang from 31 January to 6 February 1977; and the Joint SCSP/SEAFDEC Workshop on Aquaculture Engineering at Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines, 27 November to 3 December in the same year. As time elapsed and progress continues, there is strong indication that the governments in the region are very much interested in developing prawn/shrimp culture. Development programmes on these resources are given high priority. As of the time of the two previous meetings some progress in this particular field has been attained, new developments have shown very promising results.
Thailand has a significant achievement in mass production of prawn fry through private hatcheries. Quite a number of prawn farmers have their own hatcheries established. In the Philippines more shrimp hatcheries were constructed recently which are now operational. At the present moment Indonesia in its Third Five-Year Development Plan has an ambitious plan for increasing the number of hatcheries spread out all over the country where conditions permit. I am sure that Malaysia has started developing the brackishwater fish culture; some hatcheries have been constructed under ongoing projects; others are still under construction. But apart from those promising undertakings, problems and constraints have also cropped up recently.
One of the vital aspects in prawn/shrimp culture that requires serious consideration is seed supply. In order to meet the ever increasing demand of seeds we are obliged to cope with this challenge. In my view controlled seed production through hatcheries is one of the important components of the industry which should be given the utmost attention.
It is the aim of this Working Party to assess the status of this very indispensable segment of prawn/shrimp culture; identify problems, constraints and gaps that need solution. Your elaborations during these coming days is expected to attain positive outcomes which are directly useful to the industry, and come up with realistic recommendations for pragmatic rational future programmes.
I wish you success.
