A free exchange of information is of primary importance in the development of aquaculture, particularly since the major increases in production in the near future are to be achieved through transfer of technology. A unified comprehensive information gathering, processing and dissemination system would be necessary to meet the needs of aquaculture development. The existing information systems of some relevance to aquaculture attempt bibliographic coverage of aquaculture publications. What is of greater significance to aquaculture development would be the unconventional types of information and data contained in unpublished documents and restricted reports. Collection of these have necessarily to be done on a decentralized basis. The regional networks of research and training centres discussed earlier could be well utilized with advantage for this purpose. All input centres must use the same indexing vocabularies with a high degree of consistency if the system is to function properly. It is necessary to process inputs from various sources at a central point for feedback of the total processed information to the input stations for dissemination in appropriate forms. If existing systems such as the National Aquaculture Information System (NAIS) sponsored by the Sea Grant Program of U.S.A. or the Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Information System (ASFIS) jointly sponsored by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of Unesco and the FAO Fisheries Department, were to be utilized, the cost of the whole operation could be minimized. The central processing station could also serve as an information retrieval centre for areas not covered by regional networks, thus serving global needs in this regard. It was suggested that such a system could be operated at an annual cost of only about U.S. $ 70 000 if existing facilities could be utilized. During discussions it was, however, pointed out that the cost may be higher if additional staff expenditure is involved in data gatherings.
