Most countries of the world, particularly developing countries, are interested in the development of aquaculture for increasing fishery production. Based on the rates of increased production achieved in countries that have given the essential support to aqua-culture industries it has been projected that a five-fold increase in overall world production, which amounts to about 30 million tons, is achievable by the end of the century. Such increased production is expected to be achieved through:
(a) wider application of known technologies, including the expansion of areas under culture,(b) improvement of existing technologies to enable more intensive farming, and, to a lesser extent,
(c) the development and utilization of new technologies.
It is, however, recognized that such an increase is contingent on a variety of factors, the most important of which are financial investment, technical expertise, production inputs and support services. Developing countries would need substantial external aid for the implementation of their development plans. No single aid agency can provide all the aid needed and it is obvious that some form of cooperation between aid agencies and coordination of assistance programmes could prove very valuable. The FAO Technical Conference on Aquaculture held in Kyoto, May-June 1976, considered this matter and suggested that "some suitable means of frequent consultations between bilateral and multilateral donor agencies should be established so as to enable the best use of funds and facilities available". Partly in implementation of this recommendation and largely in pursuance of the objective of developing close working relations with donor agencies, the FAO/UNDP ad hoc Consultation on Aid for Aquaculture Development was jointly organized by FAO and UNDP through the Aqua-culture Development and Coordination Programme in La Toja (Pontevedra), Spain, 20-23 June 1978.
The meeting was inaugurated by Mr. Herman Watzinger, Assistant Director-General (Fisheries) of FAO who described the increasing importance of aquaculture in world fisheries and consequently in the programme of work of FAO. He pointed out the need to mobilize support from all available sources to facilitate accelerated development of the industry. Mr. William A. Ripley, Fisheries Advisor, UNDP, welcomed the participants on behalf of UNDP and briefly traced UNDP's role so far in the development of this sector of fisheries, particularly the launching of the inter-regional Aquaculture Development and Coordination Programme and the series of regional and national projects under its umbrella.
Dr. Clarence P. Idyll, Chief of the Division of International Fisheries Development and Services, National Marine Fisheries Services, NOAA, Washington (U.S.A.) served as the Chairman of the meeting and Dr. T.V.R. Pillay (FAO) as Secretary.
The agenda followed and the list of participants are given in Annexes I and II respectively. Commander Miguel A. Bringuis Villanueva, Naval Chief, Villagarcia Bay, addressed the closing session of the meeting on behalf of the Director-General of Fisheries of Spain. The field visits on 22 June 1978 were organized through the courtesy of Centro Experimental del Plan de Explotación Marisquera de Galicia, with the assistance of Prof. F. López Capont, University of Santiago de Compostela.
