I wish to express my gratitude to NACA, on behalf of the IDRC, for inviting us to participate in the Third Meeting of the Provisional Governing Council of NACA.
Listening to the reports of the different lead centres of the Network, it is apparent that the involvement of IDRC in the support for NACA has been significant and we are glad to have had the opportunity to contribute.
The mission of IDRC is to contribute to development through research-supporting activities. The IDRC has two main objectives: (a) to support research of direct relevance to development in the Third World, and (b) to help developing countries build indigenous research and research supporting capacities at the national but also regional level, mainly in terms of human resources.
The fisheries activities of the IDRC come under the Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Sciences Division, one of the six programme divisions under which it operates. From 1979 to 1985, the IDRC allocated 13.3 × 106 Canadian Dollars to 53 fisheries projects through the developing world. A considerable proportion of this has been directed towards Asia, particularly Southeast Asia. This support, however, is not confined to aquaculture although it forms a major component. Among the major long-term projects supported by IDRC are the milkfish breeding and culture programme; the support for RLCC by providing fellowships (e.g. 19 trainees for 1984/85); and training courses for different aspects of aquaculture conducted by the SEAFDEC.
The IDRC has not hesitated to complement training activities in conjunction with other organizations and institutions. For example, IDRC has been actively involved in the organization, teaching, and running of the Tropical Fish Health course at the Universiti Pertanian Malaysia in conjunction with NACA. IDRC will be interested in developing and complementing similar training courses, relevant to its own research-support programmes, and of relevance to the development of the industry in the region, in collaboration with international, regional or intergovernmental, or other selected institutions in the region.
The IDRC fisheries activities are also being networked. Four such networks are in operation: fish genetics, fish disease, fishery social sciences, and fish nutrition. Collaboration and cooperation with these network activities with those proposed by NACA is most welcome.
