71. As a follow-up to the recommendation of the Stavanger Symposium on Heated Effluents and Recirculation Systems in Intensive Aquaculture (Recommendation 80/10) an ad hoc correspondence group became active in 1981 and 1982. It met in Hamburg in January 1983 under the leadership of Dr H. Rosenthal (Federal Republic of Germany) to discuss the various comments provided with regard to an initial report drafted by Mr R. Mayo (USA). On this basis a second draft report was prepared (EIFAC/XIII/84/10). It was submitted to and adopted by the Sub-Commission in the form of a progress report of the Working Party.
72. It was recommended that the final report be cleared by the Chairman of Sub-Commission II and published as an EIFAC Technical Paper by the Secretariat. The Working Party should continue its work to expand the scope of the first publication in the future.
73. During the twelfth EIFAC session, the activities of the Cooperative Programme of Research on Aquaculture (COPRAQ) - fish diseases - were reviewed. It was then approved by the Commission that future activities of this programme be implemented under the form of workshops.
74. As a first workshop, a “Technical Consultation on Prophylactic Measures” was held from 3 to 5 May 1983 in Bern, Switzerland, under the Chairmanship of Dr M.W. Meier (Switzerland). The report of the technical consultation (EIFAC/XIII/84/6) was submitted to the Sub-Commission. Its recommendation concerning national legislations was considered of particular interest by Member States. It was recommended that the EIFAC Secretariat compile information on the present status of legislation on fish diseases available from Member States, with particular emphasis on its description and its objectives. Such document will be presented for discussion at the next session and it will form the basis for the definition of future workshop activities in this particular field of fish diseases.
75. Following the Recommendation 82/2 formulated during the twelfth session of EIFAC, a Working Party on this subject was established with members from Ireland and Norway, under the convenorship of Dr J. McArdle (Ireland). No report has been published yet.
76. A report will be finalized in the next intersessional period. It will be sent through the Secretariat and the Chairman of Sub-Commission II to the EIFAC National Correspondents for comments. It will then be prepared for presentation at the next EIFAC Session.
77. During its previous meeting, the Commission recommended that the Secretariat obtain from member countries a copy of existing glossaries on aquaculture terminology (Recommendation 82/3). Only two countries have answered such request.
78. It is recommended that the Secretariat endeavours again to obtain information on aquaculture terminology from Member States during the next intersessional period.
79. The possibility of holding a workshop on the economics of small-scale aquaculture at the University of Stirling, with Dr J. Muir (UK) as Convenor, has been investigated with success. It will be held in late October 1984.
80. It was recommended that the final dates be agreed upon by Dr J. Muir and the Chairman of Sub-Commission II and that the EIFAC National Correspondents be informed of these dates as soon as possible. Interested individuals should urgently contact Dr J. Muir to confirm their possible participation.
81. Dr R. Berka (Czechoslovakia) has prepared a literature review on fish transportation. He presented to the Sub-Commission a brief overview of this document which is now being finalized in draft. This draft will be distributed to Member States for comments. A final version will then be prepared by Dr R. Berka.
82. It was recommended that this final version be then submitted to the Secretariat through the Chairman of the Sub-Commission for publication as an EIFAC Technical Paper.
83. It was noted that such a document will be of great interest to the developing countries, where its distribution should be ensured.
84. A Working Party has been established under the leadership of Dr C.M. Bungenberg de Jong (The Netherlands), following the proposal made at the twelfth session for the study of the prevention and control of bird predation in aquaculture and fisheries operations.
85. A questionnaire on the economical impact of bird predation has been distributed to Member States but only eight countries have provided answers to date. A preliminary analysis of these has been presented to the Sub-Commission but further data is still needed to complete such analysis.
86. It was recommended that the National Correspondents be informed that the deadline for sending the questionnaire back has been extended until 30 November 1984. A strong plea was made for a stronger cooperation to enable the Working Party to successively terminate this part of its mandate. It was also agreed that a final draft be prepared as soon as possible and circulated to Member States for approval, prior to final publication.
87. A review of the literature on this subject will then be prepared by the Working Party with the assistance of Dr M. Beveridge, University of Stirling (United Kingdom), to be also finalized as soon as possible.
88. Following the decision agreed upon at the twelfth session to circulate a questionnaire to the Member States on the above subject, answers from fourteen countries were received and analyzed. A brief report was presented to the Sub-Commission showing that most of the major fields of interest have been already addressed to through previous EIFAC activities.
89. Since EIFAC Member States expressed the view that activities in the field of genetics, selection, and hybridization are most instrumental in improving and developing aquaculture in the EIFAC region, it was recommended that an international symposium on these topics be held in conjunction with the fourteenth EIFAC session, preferably in collaboration with ICES. It was also recommended that sub-Commission I be involved in the organization of such Symposium.
90. It was proposed and adopted that Prof. K. Tiews (Federal Republic of Germany) be appointed chairman of the Steering Committee and that the convenor of the Symposium be selected by this Committee.
91. A report of informal discussions held on eel culture during the session was briefly presented. Because of the great importance of eel culture in several Member States, it was agreed that a workshop on this subject be held.
92. It was therefore recommended that the workshop be organized by Sub-Commission II in 1985 together with the next session of the EIFAC Working Party on Eel, in Perpignan, France. This workshop would be convened by Mr J. Hodal (Denmark), in close collaboration with the EIFAC Secretariat and the Chairman of Sub-Commission II. The workshop should review the status of eel culture in Europe, identify existing constraints to its development, and recommend future research needs. As far as possible non-European expertise should be invited to participate in the workshop.
93. The following persons were elected:
V. Hilge (Federal Republic of Germany), Chairman
R. Berka (Czechoslovakia), Vice-Chairman
L. Nyman (Sweden), Rapporteur
94. The delegations expressed their sincere gratitude to the officers of Sub-Commission II who have served in the past few years, and in particular to Dr E.A. Huisman, for his stimulating work.
