Mr. Koenz, Dr. Fuad, Distinguished members of the Advisory Committee and Friends.
It is indeed a great pleasure for me to be here on the occasion of the First Meeting of CERLA's Advisory Committee and to convey to you the greetings and good wishes of the Director-General, and the Department of Fisheries of FAO. Even though we have now five other regional centres under operation in our global network and two more in the offing, this is the only one that our Director-General has visited. This can be taken as an indication of FAO's special interest in this Centre and aquaculture in this part of the world in general.
This Centre is probably the first cooperative effort of Latin American countries in the field of aquaculture. The idea of a regional centre was mooted in the year 1974 at the FAO/CARPAS Symposium on Aquaculture in Latin America at Montevideo. The FAO World Conference on Aquaculture in Kyoto, Japan, in 1976 adopted the concept of a Global Network of Aquaculture. Centres for applied research, training and information, as essential basic support for the rapid development of aquaculture in Third World countries, and included it as an integral element in a world strategy for this sector.
The UNDP/FAO Inter-regional Aquaculture Development and Coordination Programme (ADCP) was given the responsibility for the organization of the Network of Regional Centres. The selection of the host country for a regional centre in Latin America was fairly easy - unlike in some other recent cases. Of the two countries that offered to host, Brazil was the only one that had the budgetary provision and so we decided to build on the site and facilities offered by the Government of Brazil. The project was approved with the necessary endorsements of countries of the region in December 1977. Later in this session you will hear detailed accounts of the project implementation and the development of the Centre from Dr Pagan, the UNDP/FAO Adviser, and Dr. Laerte, the Centre Director. We certainly had a good share of teething troubles. These were only to be expected, particularly since the whole concept is somewhat different from that of the majority of aid projects, and the project constituted an attempt to translate into action some of the noble policies that are in practice very difficult to implement.
The project falls within UN priorities of Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries, Development of National Capabilities in Science and Technology, and the network approach in regional cooperation. Even though these are all concepts and policies of the member nations, directed towards sharing of experience and self reliance, most of us still look at UN agencies as donors of technical and financial assistance only. So a project like CERLA, designed to facilitate institutions and governments in the region to help each other takes time to be fully understood and appreciated.
As you all can see, the Government of Brazil has invested considerable funds and effort in building up the facilities in CERLA headquarters and its two sub-Centres. It was, of course, well recognized by us in FAO and in SUDEPE that we were not building up a white elephant, and that a Centre like this is needed even on a national basis for a large country with a vast potential for aquaculture development, as Brazil. This is now being well demonstrated by the role it will play in the large aquaculture development project that the country is launching with IDB support. However, this does not in any way diminish the extent of generosity of the host Government and the leadership role it has taken in the development of this sector in the region. Despite severe financial stringencies that have now become the order of the day, the Government of Brazil has provided most of the inputs that they agreed to. It is, therefore, a great pleasure for me to express here the gratitude of FAO and of the UNDP to the Government of Brazil for its genuine contributions to regional cooperation and TCDC in this region. I am sure that the representatives of Latin American countries in this hall will join me in thanking the Government of Brazil.
For reasons that are fairly well known, UNDP/FAO inputs in monetary terms have been relatively small, even though one may consider them of crucial value. Our role has been largely of a catalyst, providing some of the crucial external assistance needed, and facilitating regional cooperation.
When we conceived the project, we had hoped to mobilize sizeable support from other donors. But, due to various reasons, including delays in the initiation of the Centre and, more so, unfamiliarity of donors with aquaculture, we have so far only been able to obtain the support of IDB. As many of you know, IDB has contributed thirty fellowships to the lower income countries for training at the Centre. I must also mention here the contributions by the Governments of Netherlands, Italy and France in the form of associate experts to strengthen the technical staff in specific fields. Now that the Centre is a going concern, I believe prospects of additional support would improve.
As some of you know, I have been personally involved in almost all stages of this project. It may, therefore, not be out of place for me to recognize here some of the persons who have contributed most significantly to its inception and its progress. The enthusiasm and foresight of Mr. Josias, ex Superintendent of SUDEPE, in offering to host the Centre were more than matched by decisive action of his successor, Dr. Tim. I mention my friend Horacio Rosa after them, only to respect the hierarchy. He has borne the brunt of pressures from our side, as well as from within SUDEPE. It would have been extremely difficult to reach where we are without his help, and that of Dr. Fuad, whom I consider the father of Pirassununga Pisciculture Station. Finally, I should recognize here Ambassador Thompson Flores, who presided over all our crisis sessions and always found acceptable solutions to all problems.
As you will be reviewing the work of the Centre and consequently, of its staff, I shall refrain from making any mention of them. I am very pleased to see that Dr. Laerte and Dr. Pagan are demonstrating regional as well as personal cooperation with very considerable success.
Dr. Pagan and Dr. Laerte will be reporting to you later in this meeting the programme of work and accomplishments of the Centre. But even at this stage, I should point out that initially the Centre's focus of attention was the training programme. This we think was most appropriate, as the primary need in aquaculture development in the countries of the region is for aquaculturists with broad-based training to identify opportunities for appropriate types of development, formulate programmes, and implement or supervise them. The first course was recently completed, and the second course will begin shortly. Several improvements are planned to be effected in the second course, based on experience gained in the organization of the first. It is also expected that the course will be approved shortly for the award of a Master's degree by a local University.
Research at the Centre has been started only recently, but it is designed to yield technology packages for testing under local conditions and then for wide application in the countries of the region.
As soon as we are able to acquire a suitable minicomputer, the Centre should be able to initiate the computerized information system, AQUIS, which we have developed as a service primarily to development agencies and the industry. In response to requests, the System will be able to provide the user, processed world-wide available information on critical aspects of aquaculture.
I think I have spoken more than I wanted to. Let me close by expressing my hope that this first meeting of CERLA Advisory Committee will prove of great value to the Centre's future activities, its continued operation as a regional institution and over-all cooperation in aquaculture development in Latin America. The quiet and exhilarating surroundings of Pirassununga can certainly be most stimulating, and promote innovative thinking. You should, therefore, find it fairly easy to contribute sound advice and directions for the Centre's future work.
