18. Short presentations were made by each of the experts attending the meeting. They highlighted their respective institutional and individual activities of relevance to environmental issues and aquaculture in the Mediterranean, for consideration in the framework of potential networking, coordination and future EAM activities. Summaries of the presentation made appear in Appendix E.
19. From the presentations made by the experts it emerged that numerous public and private environmental initiatives related to aquaculture development exist in the Mediterranean, implemented through various organizations, networks and projects.The role played by some of these institutions, such as The World Conservation Union (IUCN), the United Nations Environment Programme - Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP-MAP) and the International Centre for Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) in organizing focus training activities was commended. Furthermore, a number of research institutions, such as the French Institute for Research on the Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER), and universities throughout the region are also engaged and/or host activities and networks dealing with aquaculture and environment issues in the Mediterranean, some funded by the EU. Few relevant examples of projects and networks are: MARAQUA, ECASA, SAMI, MedVegBIOFAQs, SPICOSA, and AQCESS3. National governmental initiatives on coastal zoning are also being implemented by some countries (e.g. Croatia) aiming at an integrated and planned process for the development of the aquaculture sector as a whole.
20. Participants concluded that there is a vast pool of scientific expertize in the region and noted that many ongoing activities involved the development of aquaculture impact models all the way from genes to an ecosystem approach for aquaculture management. They further shared the opinion that the issues at stake are of great importance for the future sustainable and integrated development of the sector. The re-establishment of EAM could play an important role in promoting an integration of the above mentioned initiatives. The experts finally recommended that the southern Mediterranean countries should be more involved in regional projects and environmental activities.
