1. The Third Meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia (NACA), hosted by the Government of the People's Republic of China was convened at the Taihu Hotel, Wuxi, China, 26–28 October 1983.
2. ATTENDANCE
The Meeting was attended by representatives of participating governments, UNDP, FAO, SEAFDEC, UPV and IDRC as well as observer from ACTIM. The list of participants appears in Annex I.
3. OPENING CEREMONY
The Opening Ceremony was held at the Great Hall of the Taihu Hotel at 09:00 hours, Wednesday 26 October 1983.
4. In his welcoming address (Annex II), the Honorable Mr. Wu Donghua, the Acting Mayor of Wuxi City stated that it was an honour and privilege for Wuxi, renowned as the “land of rice and fish”, to be selected for holding the Third Advisory Committee Meeting. He stressed the need for sharing of aquaculture technology among developing countries, and expressed the hope that aquaculture development in the region would be accelerated and friendship among nations strengthened through the Third Advisory Committee Meeting.
5. The UNDP Representative, Mr. Yves de San reiterated the general principle of UNDP's involvement which could only address the immediate objectives of regional projects. Sustained and long-term application of results would depend on the development efforts of the region itself. While assuring that high priority had been given to the NACA project, and that UNDP support would not be withdrawn at a time when the immediate objectives of the project were increasingly being met, he stressed that further inputs for the maintenance of the network could not be entirely funded by UNDP. In outlining the UNDP support given to NACA in the past, he emphasised the need for establishing suitable mechanisms for sustained operation of the Network. His address appears in Annex III.
6. Mr. Y.S. Kanaan, the FAO Representative in China praised the work performance of NACA by summarising its progress of activities and highlighting its achievements. He drew attention to the fact that the project time frame of 4½ years was too short to prepare programmes, set up facilities and particularly prepare and implement the three major grammes of activities of NACA. He informed the gathering that NACA had been accorded high priority for support, and that negotiations were underway with a number of governments for consideration of possible assistance under the FAO/Government Cooperative Programme. In commending the outstanding achievements made by the Regional Lead Centre in China, he informed that some African countries had requested for assistance from RLCC in training and the setting up of similar centres. He strongly recommended that the momentum of implementing the NACA project be maintained until it became financially self-supporting. His address appears in Annex IV.
7. In his address (Annex V), Dr. Pillay, the Programme Leader of ADCP outlined the history of establishing NACA, from a vague idea of regional cooperation conceived in 1976 to an action-oriented network achieved through persistent efforts and cooperation. The Regional Lead Centre in China for integrated fish farming, one of the four regional centres of NACA, was similarly established. The rapidity of its establishment since the formulation of project proposal in 1979 reflected the will of the Chinese Government and its concern for cooperation and assistance to other developing countries. Dr. Pillay thanked Vice Minister Xiao Peng for his personal effort in making this possible.
8. In reporting on the actions taken to generate funding support for NACA and the global aquaculture programme of ADCP, Dr. Pillay informed that some progress has been made in contacting donors for possible participation in a donors meeting to be held in mid 1984. He drew attention to the World Bank Policy Paper on Fisheries in which aquaculture and small-scale fisheries are accorded high priority. He also highlighted the recommendations of the recently held Technical Phase of the World Conference on Fishery Development and Management in which high priority was also accorded to aquaculture. The Conference decided that a separate Action Plan for Aquaculture be drawn up in which regional and interregional activities in aquaculture be continued and strengthened.
9. In his Keynote Address (Annex VI), the Honorable Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Mr. Xiao Peng, underlined the importance of and the progress made in freshwater fisheries and aquaculture development in China. Freshwater fish production of 1.56 million tons in 1982 has more than tripled since the founding of the People's Republic of China. During the past four years, production has increased by nearly 50% with the implementation of the guiding principle of national economic adjustment and the rural economic policies.
10. He informed the gathering that freshwater aquaculture in China has great potentials. High production rates per hectare, ranging from 2,500–3,000 kg have been achieved in large area of a province, 4,000– 4,500 kg in a county and more than 7,500 kg in high yielding units. With such production, he noted freshwater fisheries could make up the loss of marine fisheries production resulting from resource conservation. With full utilization of inland aquatic resources for culture and capture, it is expected that the production target of 4 or 5 millions tons of freshwater fish could be achieved by the end of the 1980s.
11. The Vice Minister expressed satisfaction with the work performence of NACA since its establishment. He stated that NACA plays an important role in strengthening technical exchanges among developing countries, in developing regional aquaculture and enhancing friendship between the peoples of different countries. In praising the work progress of NACA, the Vice Minister assured that active measures will be taken to gradually beef up the manpower and facilities in RLCC and that close collaboration will be continued with FAO and UNDP so the Centre can increase its contribution to the development of aquaculture in developing countries.
ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN
12. At the conclusion of the Opening Ceremony, the Meeting proper commenced at 10:45 hours. Prior to proceeding with the business at hand, the Committee extended its congratulation to Mr. Vanich Varikul (Thailand) for his recent appointment as Director-General of Fisheries of Thailand and to Dr. A.C. Santiago, Jr. for his appointment as Chief of SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department and concurrently Director of the Regional Lead Centre in the Philippines.
13. Upon the proposal of Mr. Zhu Pirong of China, seconded by Mr. Soewito of Indonesia, Mr. Vanich Varikul of Thailand was unanimously elected as Chairman of the Third Advisory Committee Meeting.
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
14. The Provisional Agenda was adopted without any amendments (Annex VII).
