1. The Fourth Meeting of the Advisory Committee (ADCOM) of the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia (NACA), hosted by the Government of India was convened at Hotel Konark, Bhubaneswar, India on 3–5 December 1984.
ATTENDANCE
2. The Meeting was attended by representatives of participating governments, UNDP and FAO. The list of participants appears in Annex I.
OPENING CEREMONY
3. The Opening Ceremony was held at the Ashok Durbar Hall of Hotel Konark at 11.00 hrs, Monday, 3 December 1984.
4. Before the commencement of the formal deliberations of the Meeting, two minutes silence was observed to pay homage to the late Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi.
5. Welcoming the participants, Dr. A.V. Natarajan, Director, CIFRI, said that though regional cooperation in aquaculture development was conceived in 1975 at the Bangkok Workshop organised by FAO followed by the Technical Conference on Aquaculture at Tokyo in 1976, the NACA project was finally approved in 1979. By 1980, the Regional Lead Centre in India also came into being. He appreciated the role of NACA in the dissemination of technologies through its training programmes and information service. He also thanked the UNDP/FAO for their support.
6. In his Inaugural Address (Annex II), Dr. O.P. Gautam, Director General, ICAR, outlined the institutional network of the Council. Comparing the achievement in crop and animal production research he stressed the importance of aquaculture research and training and indicated the role of the four fisheries institutions in the country. Further he mentioned that the Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, which will be a source for drawing the germ plasm for breeding and development, has already been set up this year while two more institutions on cold water and brackishwater fisheries will be added in the Seventh Plan in view of the increasing importance of the two ecosystems in national and international context. He also said that India is actively considering setting up a deemed fisheries university with specialized post-graduate courses.
7. Appreciating the work done by NACA, he opined that UNDP funds could not have been utilised any better. While indicating his satisfaction on the activities and achievements of Dhauli Centre he thanked the UNDP/FAO on behalf of ICAR and the Government of India for its assistance which enabled the Centre to become not only a national but a regional asset. He also expressed that India can benefit from the experience of other countries through NACA. He assured the members that the recommendations of the Advisory Committee would receive full attention of the Government and the Council. He congratulated FAO for the well conceived Project and effective implementation of the Project activities, the impact of which has started to be felt in the region. He stressed that it was not the time to phase out the funding of the Project and called upon UNDP not to underscore this point and sincerely hoped that UNDP will consider this.
8. The UNDP Representative, Mr. David M. Thorup, giving his experience as the Leader of the UNDP Evaluation Team for the NACA Project, which had just completed its task, said that the members of the Team were highly impressed with the progress achieved at the various centres in this brief span of time. He informed the Meeting that UNDP is favourably considering the continuation of the Project and to provide necessary funding support at least over the next two years, at its present funding level and with possible further consideration of some modest additional funding. His address appears in Annex III.
9. In his address (Annex IV), Dr. T.V.R. Pillay, Programme Leader of ADCP, outlined the origin of the concept of regional cooperation in aquaculture research in Third World countries. In view of the various species and different systems covering widely varying agro-climatic conditions and involving people from diverse socio-economic strata, it was considered impossible to think of centralising research, training or even information dissemination, he said. As a compromise, centres for research and training at a higher level for administrators and development personnel were organised at regional level. He mentioned that the World Conference on Fisheries Development and Management recently held at Rome also supported the expansion and strengthening of regional network on a global basis. He opined that NACA already has a well-conceived programme of research and training which could be further expanded and strengthened with necessary funding support from UNDP as well as respective governments. He suggested that the newly developed technologies may be tested soon and passed on to the countries in the region for further testing and modifications to suit local conditions. Thanking the Government of India and ICAR for hosting the Meeting and all participating agencies on behalf of FAO, Dr. Pillay said that the capabilities developed by NACA in processing and dissemination of aquaculture information through the computerised system would go a long way in the development of aquaculture not only in the participating countries but the whole region.
10. Dr. R. K. Naik, Secretary to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry, Government of Orissa, who presided over the Inaugural Ceremony, considered the selection of Bhubaneswar as the venue for the deliberations of the Fourth ADCOM and TPR meetings a great privilege. He suggested that micro-situation oriented research should be considered a part of the system as it would be of direct benefit to the farmers. He also emphasized the need for extension research for effective transfer of technology and hoped that the recommendations of ADCOM Meeting would directly contribute to the development of aquaculture in Orissa.
11. Dr. V.R.P. Sinha, National Project Director of the Regional Lead Centre in India (RLCI), proposed a vote of thanks to the Chair.
ELECTION OF THE CHAIRMAN
12. After the Opening Ceremony, the Meeting proper commenced at 12.30 hrs. Upon the proposal of Dr.T. Bhukaswan of Thailand seconded by Mr.T.L. Ti of Malaysia, Dr.R.M. Acharya, Deputy Director-General (Animal Sciences), ICAR, was unanimously elected as Chairman of the Fourth ADCOM Meeting. Dr. A.V. Natarajan was elected as Vice-Chairman on a proposal by Mr. Shan Jian from China, seconded by Mr. Gerochi of the Philippines.
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
13. The Provisional Agenda was adopted after inclusion of the “Report of the UNDP Evaluation Mission” under item 5 for discussion. The adopted agenda appears as Annex V.
