At the request of the Plenary Session an Ad Hoc Committee was formed to summarize the discussions of the two groups with a view to presenting recommendations for further consideration by the Plenary Session.
The Ad Hoc Committee believed that the development of rural coastal aquaculture offer solutions to both the short- and long-term problems presently confronting small-scale fishermen. It further recognized that in addition to aquaculture there could be other alternative or supplementary sources of employment and income which would benefit rural fishermen. Recognizing the different needs inherent in each of the member countries, the Ad Hoc Committee then went on to consider a systematic identification of broad strategies and actions for consideration by the Plenary Session.
The strategies and actions identified were considered to have both short-and long-term relevance.
The Committee discussed and unanimously agreed that:
Coastal aquaculture has considerable development potential to offer to this fishery sector: and this conclusion was drawn from the experiences of existing national development programmes as well as bilaterally and multilaterally financed projects;
Since resettlement schemes in certain areas have shown potential benefits to people in this fishery sector, this line of development should be given due recognition; and
The development of post-harvest technology could also lead to increasing job opportunities and incomes to this sector.
While resource management was considered an essential function in the overall fishery development in the region, the Committee recognized that:
the present lack of a reliable data base to approach this problem should be rectified as a matter of urgency;
the choice of resource management strategies would have to be realistically determined before they could bring about positive results;
the enforcement of resource management measures should be well supported by legislation; and
in order to attain the maximum effects of the enforcement of such legislation, fishermen concerned should be made aware of the importance of their role and especially their participation.
Particularly in connection with the introduction of aquaculture systems, and in light of the experiences gained in past and present development projects, the Committee emphasized that:
Based on the needs of each member country, an exchange system should be established to share existing technologies and experiences in accordance with the needs of each of the countries;
Training programmes for the small, rural fishing communities is an essential requirement in the introduction of alternative employment; and
There is a need to strengthen the existing extension services.
The development of the current fish marketing systems was considered as an important input to the upgrading of the livelihood in this fishery sector. In particular, the Committee referred to:
the development of essential supporting infrastructural facilities including the reduction of waste through improvements of cold chain systems, landing complexes, fishing ports, etc.;
the creation of a marketing information system to facilitate a better bargaining position of the fishermen;
the improvement of the current market transactions in an attempt to maximize financial returns to the fishermen; and
by improvements in fish handling processing to ensure a higher financial return.
The Committee considered that since capital would be required in the initiation of any development undertakings, it would be necessary:
to expand and improve existing credit schemes for small-scale fishermen in both the capture and captive sectors; but
in order to avoid the shortcomings suffered by past and present credit schemes, the fisherman communities concerned should be guided to recognize the true need of self-reliance initially through the participation in practicable savings schemes.
To pave the way for these actions, it would be essential to develop:
