The Group considered in some detail the types of activities involved in aquaculture development and the nature of information required for each of them. Generally speaking, three types of information are needed, viz.;
(i) statistical data on production, area under culture, species cultured, value of products, exports and imports, manpower employed, etc.(ii) bibliographic and other non-numerical information such as directories of experts, institutions, research programmes, etc.
(iii) numerical and other data relating to aquaculture production, including cost and income.
Only very few countries in the world have an organized system for the collection and analysis of aquaculture statistics. The normal channels through which FAO fisheries statistics are collected have, in the majority of cases, been unable to provide the information needed, as national statistical surveys do not cover aquaculture and when they do, cannot always distinguish aquaculture production from capture fisheries landings. The presently available aquaculture production statistics are largely based on estimates made by agencies directly involved. In many cases these are estimated on the basis of seed production, survival rates, area under cultivation, average production per unit area, etc.
The Group recognized the importance of reliable statistics in development planning and evaluation and stressed the need for FAO and national agencies to pay greater attention to this. National sampling surveys would appear to be the most appropriate means of obtaining the necessary statistics. The possibility of including aquaculture in the decennial agricultural censuses was considered. It was noted that the United States of America had already included it in the last agricultural census.
The main source of bibliographic information is published scientific literature. The existing systems, principally ASFIS and NAIS make every effort to cover conventional sources, such as journals that they have access to. It was however apparent that a significant proportion of relevant information is unavailable to them at present as much of it is not suited for publication in scientific journals and consequently remains unidentified in unpublished reports, theses and similar formats to which access can be gained only by the direct participation of their producers in information exchange programmes at either national or regional level. There are many relatively less known periodical and occasional publications, especially published in developing countries that contain considerable information of value. Also, the coverage of non-English publications tends to be very incomplete. Major advances in aquaculture are being made in many developing countries and reports of work in those countries are often in local languages not regularly covered by existing bibliographic systems. According to a rough estimate, probably no more than 50 percent of the relevant literature is captured by the existing systems.
The type of information which is crucial to the development of aquaculture and is sadly lacking, is the data type of information. The results of pilot and production projects which could form the basis for large-scale investment programmes are at present extremely difficult to obtain. At least some of it may be contained in informal publications, annual reports or similar documents. Other undocumented information may have to be collected directly from the projects. There are many users for such information, ranging from investors and private aquaculturists to administrators and research workers. As increased aquaculture production in the near future is expected to be based largely on the transfer of known technologies, the availability of relevant numerical data is of primary and immediate importance.
A preliminary list of data required is contained in Annexure III. The collection of such data is admittedly the most difficult, both from the point of view of personnel and effort needed and also in gaining access to appropriate sources. The Group recognized the problems involved in collecting data from private farms, but felt that the many pilot and production projects being undertaken with the support of governments or financial institutions could provide valuable information. With the strengthening of extension services in the countries, contacts with farmers would become closer and the possibilities for data collection would improve. The regional aquaculture centres being established in Latin America, Africa and Asia and eventually the network of national centres that will be linked to it, could become the main focal points for data collection and dissemination.
